Weather

[Tom Teague]

We have had over 6 inches of rain this week in trophy club and the temps have been in the high 30s and low 40s most of the time. Today it is in the mid 50s but the 2 pair I have are doing extremely well. I was not sure how the would fare but they seem to be doing just fine. They left this morning for a couple of hours and seem strong and are are still very vocal. Luckily the rain is supposed to move out and the sun will make an appearance.

Tom

[Whippy]

Raining hard over here right now. I am looking forward to it clearing up. Although a resident of Plano had posted her scout arrival report, I have yet to see a Martin anywhere in this area of Plano having been driving around looking at other houses in the area. Last year I started seeing them in March.

I'm glad yours are doing well. I've been wondering about them as well as the ones in Arlington.

Coolwhips

[PVNSue]

This is my second year with purple martins. We have 48 new Troyer gourds and with the rain, the white pine needles were very wet since I opened up about half of them. I replaced the wet with dry. Is that necessary? And what do you do when it rains and the birds are on the nest?
Thanks,
PVNSue

[Tom Teague]

I really don't do anything when they are nesting if it just rains for a day or so. But if it rains for extended period of time I have flipped them crickets but I have never been to successful at it.

[Craig Dyer]

I have about ten martins roosting. I too was very concerned about the extended period of cold rainy weather. Today was day four of temps between 35-50 degrees and rain. The sun popped out this afternoon. The temperature jumped into the 60s and all the martins look happy & healthy. That's a relief. A seasoned martin landlord was told me..."don't worry about the martins, they know how to take care of themselves".
At my previous colony my martins were trained to accept tossed crickets, but not yet here. Will probably get on with that training this year. It's too stressful worrying about losing any to inclement weather. Whether they actually need the emergency supplemental feeding or not.

[Spiderman]

In my experience, if the Martins have not gone without eating for a couple of days, it is really tough to get them to catch crickets flipped in the air for the 1st time.

We have 7 Martins and they seem to be happy & healthy after the 6"s of rain & the cold weather so far. Prolonged cold fronts to me are the worst.

Good Luck with your Texas Martins this year.

[Craig Dyer]

I agree...as I recall it was much easier to get martins to accept flipped or tossed crickets when they were hungry. Now is probably the time to begin training, not in May or June.

[PVNSue]

Glad to hear most of you have martins arriving. We haven't seen any here. I am thinking since we took all the old houses down that we may have to wait for the younger birds to arrive. I live in a retirement village and everyone looks to me to know when they will arrive. I didn't start working with them until May of last year so I really don't know when they will come back. Thanks for your weather help.
Sue

[Whippy]

I saw my first Martin today at another house I drive by. Last year he was there a week before mine started showing up. It is at the SW corner of Coit and Parker Pano, Tx 75093. For those of you in the DFW area you probably know that area. My colony is about 4 miles Northwest of that. Nonetheless, I saw him land on his porch at around 6pm or so.

Just a matter of time for all of us in the DFW area although some have already seen theirs.

Good luck to everybody this season.

Coolwhips

[Spiderman]

On the Scout site map this morning 40 people in and around Dallas have reported Martins so far. Must be allot more landlords in Dallas than I thought.

That's good for everybody. Established colonies and members that are waiting on Martins for the 1st time.

[Bankhawk]

This is my first post and first delving into purple Martin housing. I saw what I understand may be called scouts a month ago. I have finished a 16 compartment unit but haven’t gotten it up yet. Am I too late?

[Tom Teague]

Bankhawk in regards to your question. No I don't think you are to late. Put your house up asap. You may or may not get ASYs to nest but you have a good chance of getting SYs this year. Especially, if there are established colonies near.

Good luck.

Tom