1st pair

cajun · Wed Apr 13, 2016 8:31 pm

I had multiple martins sitting on my gourds and houses today. I also had a pair of ASY martins checking out gourds and the trios. There were martins flying high and feeding in the sky on top of my house. This is an sy male and female. They were sitting on the gourds when out of no where a starling brought him to the ground. I hope they return. I took care of the pair of starlings after the incident. I haven't seen a starling in my yard for months now I finally get a pair of martins and BAM this happens!

Gauxt · Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:45 am

Hey Cajun,
It sounds like you're well on your way. I saw the pics you had on an earlier post and it looks fantastic. Good luck, keep us posted.

rrmartins · Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:51 am

Starlings are easy targets, after you get two or three of them, the rest usually leave. A nice .177 pellet gun will take them out easily. Good luck.

taxidermy lady · Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:28 pm

Way to go Cajun! They'll be back after you blast those air rats!

cajun · Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:17 pm

Well the SY pair is back and I now have an ASY pair in the gourds. There is another pair circling but they never came in but might come in at dark.

Steve Kroenke · Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:17 pm

Hey Tim,

Thanks for sharing that great news with us! I knew you would attract some martins to your new colony since you have such a great location. You still have all of April and much of May to attract even more martins. Make sure you keep starlings and house sparrows out of your housing.

Please keep us posted on how your martin colony is doing!

Steve

cajun · Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:29 pm

Thanks Steve I will post as it progresses. The weird thing about this starling attack was he dove at them while they were sitting on the gourd. I guess he thought he was a hawk!!!

tor · Fri Apr 15, 2016 5:46 am

Crossing wings, fingers and toes for you. That is great news!

Berndog · Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:53 am

Congrat's Cajun,
I'm still waiting on "Mine" to return.....BernDog

JudyA · Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:27 am

Congratulations! Your site looks beautiful.
- Judy

MichaelH · Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:18 pm

Great to hear that other people get so much pleasure from these birds like a lot of people on this forum does,hope you get more birds in the coming weeks congrats
Mick

cajun · Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:56 pm

Thanks everyone, I hope they stay and raise some young ones. I am seeing more martins up high heading north. The birds around my sight are flying high and trying to bring them down but you can tell they are on a mission to migrate north. I had 5 martins this morning and I had 3 different ASY males at one time, and only 1 of them is paired up. I think there are 3 different pairs hanging around. There are for sure 1 ASY pair maybe 2, and 1 Sy pair . I have been around purple martins since the age of 7 and these last 3 seasons with no martins has been frustrating. It brings back old memories of me going on roofs with my Dad to put up houses or to clean out the houses for the next season. It is fun and sad at the same time, if that makes any sense, my Dad would have been amazed watching martins going into gourds.
Thanks again, watching martins is magical its the anticipation that makes it special!!!!

taxidermy lady · Sat Apr 16, 2016 10:27 am

They are fascinating to watch. Good luck! Keep'm coming Cajun, you'll make a great landlord!

cajun · Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:33 pm

I have 3 nest 1 SY pair in the trio mini's 1 ASY pair in a Super gourd, and 1 ASY pair in a THG. Today I get home there is a new pair of SY in a TVG and another pair of SY in the trio minis. I also had multiple other birds flying around. I didn't get home from work until 4 and they were all very vocal so I figured some new martins had arrived. They are spending the night so we will see tomorrow. Good Luck!!!
Tim

Steve Kroenke · Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:50 pm

Hey Tim,

Your new martin colony is growing and you still have much of May to attract even some more. Keep the starlings and house sparrows out and watch out for predators, particularly rat snakes. There are MANY rat snakes in the Deep South! Thanks for sharing your good news with us!

Steve

cajun · Thu Apr 28, 2016 9:15 pm

Thanks Steve I have the bird netting up on my poles like you showed on the website. I have not seen a starling since I shot the last one and the sparrows are in check. I have been seeing numerous Mississippi kites flying around and 1 swallow tailed kite. I don't know if they will attack the martins but I have decoys up just in case. That's about all I can do for them, if anyone knows of something I am missing please let me know.
Thanks Tim