Update from central PA

[ToyinPA]

Today I had 3 chicks fledge in the rain. One ended up in our chain link fence. My husband found him & just walked up to him & picked him up out of the fence. He was very calm. He was also very wet & couldn't go far. So I fed him & put him back in the nest. I watched to see if I put him in the right nest. I didn't, so I had to go out & move him to the right nest.

Had 2 fledge yesterday, one an hour before dark. I saw some landing in the tree tops & parents doing their best to get them to go back to the houses.

I also had a nest of 5 eggs hatch 3 days ago (one chick is very tiny).

To my surprise a nest of 4 new eggs was laid. The ASY Male is one that lost his mate. Found her (SY Female) dead in the nest a few weeks back.

We've had more days with rain than days without this season, so it's been really rough for the Martins to find food. Add in much cooler than normal temps & it's not good for finding bugs. I flipped 550 crickets today alone. I worry how the fledged chicks will do.

The chick I posted a photo of with a head wound is doing fine. His wound is almost healed & he's growing like a weed. My Husband has dubbed him "Harry Potter". There's also a very tiny chick in this nest too.

I have to laugh at the ASY Males. Some are great Dad's. 2 especially will hoover right in front of me, barely 3-4 feet away, & wait for me to flip them a cricket & then head off to the house to fed his chicks. A couple of the Females will sit above me on the wires & wait for a cricket to pass right in front of them before going for it. I have Martins sitting in 3 places, on wires, while I flip. High to the left, closer & lower to the left & on the right/above me. I try to flip in the middfle to give all a chance to get crickets. Some will make a noise, letting me know they want a cricket flipped in their direction. I can't even walk into my laundry room without Martins seeing me & lining up for food. They watch in the windows for me. They go out looking for food, but there is little for them to find.

So here's my counts to date:

15 pair-3 adults(1 ASY Male, 2 SY Females) died/killed (had a few more SY Males that moved on).

65 eggs laid-28 bad eggs=37 eggs-33 hatched-11 dead=22 chicks (5 fledged) + 4 new eggs in nest.

I'm hoping this pattern of rain & cooler temps will soon end & the rest of the chicks do well & make it to fledge.

Toy in PA

[JoeD]

Toy; Have the same problem here in north central Maryland.
Have about 40 pair. Lot of babies could not get airborne and landed in the grass, probably about 10% of my colony. They were not strong and healthy. There have been very few insects this spring: very few bugs, bees, or dragonflies anywhere. The adults had to forage long and hard all season. The weather has been okay but not great. I wish I had fed crickets all along
this spring, it may have helped. Something appears to be holding the insect population down.

JoeD

[Hanover Bill]

Hi Toy;

Sounds like you are doing a great job as usual. Those Martins are lucky to have a Landlord like yourself.

On my end of the state I feel fortunate to have avoided the heavy losses that the colonies to the north of me have suffered due to the weather, heavy rains and cool temps. The weather here has been bad also but I guess I'm just far enough south to have avoided the worse of it.

I also feel fortunate on the insect front, with all of the talk of low insect numbers I don't see much evidence of that here. My Martins are carrying in huge dragon flies regularly, in fact some of them are so big I worry that the young may choke on them, like photos I have seen on the forum.

My biggest problem has been, and continues to be, an absolute siege by HOSP. I was tied up for a lot of time at the beginning of the season, and they got a head start on me. I have never seen the numbers I am dealing with this year.

I'm a little behind on my paperwork and counts. I hope to get caught up on that front soon so I can post some numbers, but all things considered, so far, I can't complain too much.

Hoping things get better for everyone having weather and insect problems out there.

Best of Luck;
Hanover Bill.

[ToyinPA]

Toy; Have the same problem here in north central Maryland.
Have about 40 pair. Lot of babies could not get airborne and landed in the grass, probably about 10% of my colony. They were not strong and healthy. There have been very few insects this spring: very few bugs, bees, or dragonflies anywhere. The adults had to forage long and hard all season. The weather has been okay but not great. I wish I had fed crickets all along
this spring, it may have helped. Something appears to be holding the insect population down.

JoeD

Joe:
This is what I have been saying all season. NO bugs. If you live right near the forest or a swamp you have bugs, but otherwise none. Not even splatting on windshields this year. There has to be a reason for so few bugs & in a widespread area, but what?

I just hope next season is better & we're over run with dragonflies ).

Toy in PA

[ToyinPA]

Hi Toy;

Sounds like you are doing a great job as usual. Those Martins are lucky to have a Landlord like yourself.

On my end of the state I feel fortunate to have avoided the heavy losses that the colonies to the north of me have suffered due to the weather, heavy rains and cool temps. The weather here has been bad also but I guess I'm just far enough south to have avoided the worse of it.

I also feel fortunate on the insect front, with all of the talk of low insect numbers I don't see much evidence of that here. My Martins are carrying in huge dragon flies regularly, in fact some of them are so big I worry that the young may choke on them, like photos I have seen on the forum.

My biggest problem has been, and continues to be, an absolute siege by HOSP. I was tied up for a lot of time at the beginning of the season, and they got a head start on me. I have never seen the numbers I am dealing with this year.

I'm a little behind on my paperwork and counts. I hope to get caught up on that front soon so I can post some numbers, but all things considered, so far, I can't complain too much.

Hoping things get better for everyone having weather and insect problems out there.

Best of Luck;
Hanover Bill.

Bill:

Thanks . I try my best to keep the Martins going here.

I am also amazed at how they stuff those dragonflies into a tiny chick.

As for the sparrows....you might try what we did......we put up 1 small, 1 room, wooden bird house a good 12-18 feet from your Martin housing. Once a pair moves in the male will chase the rest off. Then you can either shake their eggs or put out traps & catch their chicks & get rid of them. It's the only thing that has worked for us, as we had been over run with them too a few years back. We tried ripping out nests & removing eggs, but they just took it out on the Martins even worse. We live in town so shooting any gun is illegal. The only gun we can get away with using is a BB gun & they aren't very good at a distance. The sparrows soon learn to watch your house/windows/doors/etc & they take off as son as there is any movement. You could sit all day & not get one.

We set the traps out in spring & catch a few, then we put the traps away once a pair has set up house. After their chicks fledge the traps are set out again. I have 2 in traps right now. Keep trying different methods & you'll find a way to get rid of them or lessen the amount.

Toy in PA

[birdbrat]

Toy, A while back I read your post about insect problems. I have also noticed a decrease of insects. Not as bad this year as it was in 2012. I remember a post I made back then about it. What I am seeing now is a lack of bigger insects. There was a time that almost every bird was carrying back dragonflies to the nests. That is not the case here anymore. I think, as I thought when i posted in 2012, that the insecticides that the farmers are using have caused a big decrease in our insect population. Along the same line of thought, I have no bats at all this year. In years past I would sit outside in the morning just before daybreak and watch the bats gathering to roost while the martins were waking up. This year, none. I have yet to see the first bat! Nor do I have many moths around the porch light. Time will tell if we are right about the bug problem, or if it is just a bad year for our areas. In the mean time. We will watch and feed if necessary.

[ToyinPA]

Toy, A while back I read your post about insect problems. I have also noticed a decrease of insects. Not as bad this year as it was in 2012. I remember a post I made back then about it. What I am seeing now is a lack of bigger insects. There was a time that almost every bird was carrying back dragonflies to the nests. That is not the case here anymore. I think, as I thought when i posted in 2012, that the insecticides that the farmers are using have caused a big decrease in our insect population. Along the same line of thought, I have no bats at all this year. In years past I would sit outside in the morning just before daybreak and watch the bats gathering to roost while the martins were waking up. This year, none. I have yet to see the first bat! Nor do I have many moths around the porch light. Time will tell if we are right about the bug problem, or if it is just a bad year for our areas. In the mean time. We will watch and feed if necessary.

Birdbrat:
Something is surely going on with the insect population. I have seen a few dragonflies being brought in lately, but not many. This can have a major affect on the chicks. The parents are making more trips to find insects & those they find are small. The lack of enough food & in the right quantity, size, etc will cause a chick to end up dehydrated. Once they reach that state there is little hope for them to survive. If caught in time & they are supplemental feed they can make it, but it has to be done on a daily basis until they fledge. Then I wonder how they will survive once fledged. If the parents can't find enough food for them how will they find enough.

Even the smaller insects are much less too. We see no large gnat, flying ant, etc hatches in the air like we normally would. NO May flies, no June bugs at all this year inmy area. Nothing under the street lights at night. Hardly any moths, not even bugs on veggie garden plants. No bugs splatting on windshields like normal. Some areas seem to have them & then huge areas nothing.

Sadly the bats have been stricken with "white-nose syndrom", which is killing them by the millions. I haven't seen a bat in years in my area & we used to have a lot of them here. I even had one that lived in my attic for years. He found a mate several years ago & left & we haven't seen any since.

I can only hope that things improve next season.

Toy in PA

[JoeD]

Toy. Just an update from the other day, Most of the young chicks from
multiple nest just can not get airborne, About 15 or 20 so far. They land in the grass near the poles. The ones that can fly are weak flyers just barely making it to nearby trees. I have had my colony for 40+ years and I thought I had seen it all!! You never know. The bird are certainly old enough to fledge (30-32 days old). They are feathers and bones literally. I manage my colony well, no mites or wet nest. My best guess is that the greatly reduced insect population is the cause. The only other thing I can think of is that I feed a lot of eggshells which I do not sterilize. Next year I will switch to crushed oyster shells from the local farm store

Joe

[ToyinPA]

Toy. Just an update from the other day, Most of the young chicks from
multiple nest just can not get airborne, About 15 or 20 so far. They land in the grass near the poles. The ones that can fly are weak flyers just barely making it to nearby trees. I have had my colony for 40+ years and I thought I had seen it all!! You never know. The bird are certainly old enough to fledge (30-32 days old). They are feathers and bones literally. I manage my colony well, no mites or wet nest. My best guess is that the greatly reduced insect population is the cause. The only other thing I can think of is that I feed a lot of eggshells which I do not sterilize. Next year I will switch to crushed oyster shells from the local farm store

Joe

Joe:

Sorry to hear you are having problems. So many seem to be this year, especially in the north.

I don't sterilize eggs shells either. Never have. I don't think it's the egg shells.

All of the older chicks, that I have that survived, feldged OK but 1. I have been flipping hundreds of crickets daily. The parents eat some, but most ended up being fed to the chicks. The one chick ended up in my fence on Saturday, in my basement on Sunday & today in my huge honeysuckle bush/then on the ground. I fed him several crickets & put him back in the nest each time. Late this morning, after I put him back, he went missing. I searched for him, but haven't found him anywhere. I hope he's in a tree & the parents know where he is.

I lost 2 more chicks today. Both the tiny ones in 2 different nests. I have 13 chicks in 3 nests & a nest with 4 new eggs.

With so many of your chicks having keel bones sticking out is a sign they are greatly lacking food. If their abdomen is wrinkled they are also dehydrated. Another sign of lack of food. This causes them to be too weak to fledge, get airborn & they will end up on the ground. Parents don't normally feed them on the ground, so they will not survive. I can only suggest you hand feed them crickets or meal worms & put them back in nests. A few days of supplement feeding may be enough to get them into the air. It won't be easy with that may chicks. Each one will need several crickets/worms at least 4 times a day.

I have hand fed chicks in the past that were too small, weak or just not ready to fledge, but the parents want them too. I had one chick, a few years ago, that was totally abandoned. The whole colony had left. He called & called day after day for his parents, any martins, but none came. He tried over & over to fledge, but kept ending up on the ground. I fed him 4 times a day, for several days, & finally an adult martin came by & off he went.

This major lack of insects, especially large insects, is taking its toll on the martins. Today we took a drive over the mountain, thru the woods down a dirt road, & saw very few insects flying around. Something is going on that has caused this major lack of insects, but what??

I hope your colony can survive this & the chicks can make it into the air & make migration.

Toy in PA

[Dan G]

I wish your martins could come here for 'groceries'. We seem to have lots of insects here, but we have several ponds within a few miles, and because several nearby fields are swampy, the farmers do not or cannot till them. I watched a male martin make several trips thru the amishmans field on Saturday to forage. It is a new colony with only one nesting pair so i know it was the same ASY male each trip. He was feeding no more than twenty five feet above the ground, and we watched him return every 45 seconds or so.

[ToyinPA]

I wish your martins could come here for 'groceries'. We seem to have lots of insects here, but we have several ponds within a few miles, and because several nearby fields are swampy, the farmers do not or cannot till them. I watched a male martin make several trips thru the amishmans field on Saturday to forage. It is a new colony with only one nesting pair so i know it was the same ASY male each trip. He was feeding no more than twenty five feet above the ground, and we watched him return every 45 seconds or so.

Dan:

I'm in between a river & a large creek....a mile each way. There is also a swamp within a mile of me & a run only a block away. Many farm fields surround our town & the landfill is 2 miles away. Still no to very few insects. Others here & in different states are reporting lack of insects too....there has to be a reason for it. Pesticides or something is causing this.

Toy in PA

[JoeD]

Toy, I believe my loses are much more than I originally estimated.
Still finding birds on the ground that cannot fly and a few that can
hardly fly. All these birds are at or past their fledging date. What is really telling is that in the past I would have maybe 100-125 baby birds returning to their nest at night which was always great to see. This year maybe 10-15 at the most. I am sure as you say it is the lack of insects maybe a result of the severe winters lately. If it is pesticides than that is a much bigger problem. Things tend to bounce back and I am looking forward to next year already!!!

Thanks again, Joe