New public Purple Martin Sites

[Chriscreole]

Well after 2 years of asking the City of Hutto's Parks department and with help fron the local Eagle Scouts we have our first public housing A beautiful T-14 on a crank up tower. I already had half of the house so i bought a set of T-14 plans from the PMCA and had the Eagle Scouts do their thing. After a few short months we had a mating pair, as of today we have 10/14 cavities occupied.

Now the parks department is talking about putting up more PM housing in selected areas around the city with me as main Landlord overseeing the project.

How kewl is this! Oh yeah The Hutto News is doing the fith story on my martins this week. Pictures soon

[pmartinlover2]

Congrats on your success at your public site. Sounds like there are more to come in the future too! Very good project for your Eagle Scouts. I'm betting you'll have some future landlords in your group. Good luck!
_____
Jody

[John Miller]

That's great. All my houses are in public sites, which kind of sounds like that country song...all my exes live in Texas.... Anyway, keep up the good work.

[avesrun]

Good on you Chriscreole! I'm planning on having my first group of kids at my public site to observe a nest check possibly this Thursday. I'm incorporating into part of day camp activities we're hosting at the park where I work. One of the kids already told me the purple martin is his favorite bird but he's never seen one! He's in for a surprise! Best of luck at your public sites!

TimG

[Dave Duit]

Hey Tim,
Just wanted to congratulate you on the public site success. All your efforts and hard work have finally paid off and the site will be serving it's educational goals on martins. Seems like just yesterday where you had me over to scout over the location. I will be stopping out this summer to see you and the site. Thanks for the update and congrats.

[Chriscreole]

Here is the Hutto news papers story:

It was eight years ago when Chris Harris moved into his home near Creekside Park. One of the first things he noticed were dark, blue-black birds visiting his patio every few days. He took a photo and showed it to his co-worker, who informed him that the birds were Purple Martins.

“He told me how hard they are to attract and how difficult it is to get them to stay,” said Harris. “So I decide to try it. I put up a little red house. That first year, I had two to three pairs and he thought that was great.”

Harris, who is veteran, musician and photographer, said he began to gather more information about the Purple Martins. He learned that the bird migrates back and forth from Canada to Brazil, and they are largest of the eight species of swallows in North America.

“They are also 100 percent dependent on housing provided by humans to keep them from going extinct,” said Harris.” “There isn’t enough places for them to be safe and survive from natural predators in the wild.”

Since that first encounter with the song bird, Harris has become a Purple Martin Landlord and has added more houses to his backyard, including Troyer gourds that include unique tunnel extensions that provides a sense of safety to the birds.

He also founded the Central Texas Purple Martin Landlord Organization, which is dedicated to providing information about the song bird and advocates the conservation of the Purple Martins.

This year, Harris’ received help with one of his advocacy projects that included building the first public Purple Martin Birdhouse in Creekside Park. The project was headed by Eagle Scout Christopher McDaniel, a member of Troop 12, which is chartered by Hutto Lutheran Church.

McDaniel, who is also a recent Hutto High School, said he learned about the idea for the birdhouse project when he talked to the city’s Director of Public Works, Scot Stormsness, about ideas for an Eagle Scout Project. He added that he chose Harris’ project because he believed it could benefit the community the most.

“I learned quite a lot about Purple Martins,” said McDaniel. “Purple Martins mainly depend on humans for housing. They benefit the park by eating flying insects, which will compete with the bats in this area that could possibly have rabies. They are also aesthetically pleasing in a park and people really enjoy their bird song.”

The bird house project included getting a proposal approved by McDaniel’s troop committee, the city and the Capital Area Council Blackland Prairie District representative; creating the detail plans for the project; and gathering materials for the project.

The city provided a concrete slab for the immediate area surrounding the base of the birdhouse that would allow Harris, who is in a wheelchair, easy access for the maintenance of the birdhouse. Harris also donated two sections of a T-14 cavity style house.

Harris said he now checks the house in the park every three days. He added that he hopes to see the city of Hutto get more involved with the Purple Martins by erecting birdhouses at prime selected locations throughout the city.

“I’d love to have Hutto be proud to invite Purple Martins to stay and visit hear each year,” said Harris. “Kids in our schools can learn more about this migrating bird and even help out as junior landlords.”

McDaniel said that he would be interested in helping to build more Purple Martin houses if the city provided the funds for the project.

“I would love to help when I have the time,” said McDaniel. “I believe that it would be a great way for younger scouts who are working on their Eagle Scout badge to gain leadership experience for later in their life.”

[Chriscreole]

Sorry I can't post pictures right now