worried newbe

[Dave Reynolds]

White-out .... Pay close attention to what Louise Chambers said.. I have a Bluebird problem.. You must get them out of the Martin house and plug the rooms.. Give the Bluebirds a house away from the Martin’s house.. They can and will be a problem for getting your Martins colony started.. You can remove the plugs in the Martin house, after the Bluebirds have moved to their own house..

rrmartins ... Has a good idea there too..

Dave

[white-out]

Oh, I'm paying attention to everyone's comments and hope I have enough time to get things straightened out. I've been so looking forward to hopefully attracting martins this year. Thanks for the input.....side note, I like the quote "probably not what you want to hear" but it is exactly what I want to hear. Doug

[TheSmiths]

Posting aerial photos of property & surrounding area for white-out...


Edit: Wow, this board is being very buggy today. Images show up in preview but not in post. Go in to edit and only the name of one photo shows up even though I posted four. I'll try again in a separate post but I may have to place each photo separately.

[TheSmiths]

Attempting to post photos for white-out again...

[rrmartins]

Photos are looking weird huh. Last photo still shows the best spot is to the left of driveway, in my opinion. Keep them as close to the driveway as possible.

[white-out]

Thank you TheSmiths, the 1st pic is of our house approx 1800 feet from the road. This is where one t-14 in a raised garden bed is located. It is really closed in back here and as I have recently learned, not ideal at all.

If you can post the area between the street and the woods is the place I hope to move the one in the back to. Hopefully a spot can be found to provide the best option.

[TheSmiths]

You're very close to Lake Erie which draws a great number of martins. Do you know where the nearest colony to you is located? You are a bit far from the headquarters of the Portage Lakes Purple Martin Association in Akron but they may know of an experienced member nearby who would be willing to talk to you or come look at your property. Wouldn't hurt to contact them: Larry or Judy Hunter, 330-644-1540, or e-mail: jhunter54@neo.rr.com; Jim or Margaret Frost, 330-882-0342, or e-mail: jfrost1934@gmail.com, margaretfrost63@gmail.com. PMCA also has a mentor/mentee signup page.


While you wait for purple martins you may be interested in some of the other birds that would happily live on your property. Generally, many small to medium sized cavity nesters have a rough time finding nesting spots. Many people cut down the old snags and dead trees they build their nests in. The ones that do find a nesting cavity often loose it to the non-native european starling or house sparrow. Although somewhat rare in Ohio, your site is in a good location to attract the prothonotary warbler — a little golden jewel that can use all the help it can get — http://www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/pdfs/spe ... arbler.pdf . Black-capped chickadees, tufted titmice, house wrens, tree swallows, northern flickers, and of course eastern bluebirds appreciate nest boxes & gourds as well. Occasionally flying squirrels will even raise their family in a nest box.


Best of luck.

[TheSmiths]

If you can post the area between the street and the woods is the place I hope to move the one in the back to. Hopefully a spot can be found to provide the best option.

Are all four photos showing up for you? There is one showing the length of your driveway but the trees are obstructing where it connects to the road onto your property. Are you needing a photo a bit south towards the main street that runs perpendicular to your driveway?

[white-out]

Yes, I see all four photos. In the 1st photo, south to the perpendicular street is my 2nd pond (it's very light colored water in photo) that's between the really straight driveway to the west and the dark colored pond (same color as my pond back at the house) to the east. I have a log cabin close to the woods edge that we use often so, I'm hoping for a spot in that area. Thxs

[TheSmiths]

If I pulled the correct photo this is a very nice area for martins. Nice long pond with open farmland to the south. Do you have much traffic on the main road?

[white-out]

That's it! Maybe 2 cars an hour average on this country road. Just behind the dock is the fence and the t-14 is mounted on the left side closer to the driveway.

How important is the distance from a human structure and what is that max distance? If I mounted one or both between the drive and pond will my asphalt be covered in droppings?

TheSmiths....I owe you, thanks!

[Whippy]

Wow.

What a great opportunity.

How much do you admire those three trees on the right of the pond? Whack them out and put a Martin pole about 40 to 50 feet off the corner of the house about 20 feet inside the tree stump of that one closest to the house. If I thought I could get away with it, my driveway would look like it's got industrial street lamps lined up every 20 to 30 feet between it and the pond.

I'm no expert like the others here but wanted to chime in as I really like your layout.

I hope the best for you. Good luck.

Coolwhips.

[white-out]

I would love to cut down those 3 messy and water s-sucking willows but they are my neighbor's.

Are martins messy and having them within 5 to 10 feet of the driveway a no-no?
My first Martin.....
[url]/url]

[rrmartins]

Any updates?

[white-out]

Well, I'm making a new pole (and moving it's location) for the house by the fence. Currently it's a 29' aluminum mast from a small sailboat that sways more than I like. Also moving the house in the garden to the front somewhere................I was hoping another year wouldn't slip away but it's not looking good. I really appreciate everyone's input and help, Doug

[Rockchalk]

I have a single martin house on our lake property. On the waters edge, two nearby trees and our lake cabin also relatively close. Hardly ideal setup for me but I have been successful in getting martins. Not a ton like some here but we get them and hopefully will be increasing this year. If moving houses causes you to miss a season I'd be inclined to leave them where they are this season and see how you do. Then reevaluate for next year.

[John & Linda - KY]

Are martins messy and having them within 5 to 10 feet of the driveway a no-no?

They're birds, they poop on the fly and while sitting whenever and wherever they choose. They will develop preferred fly-ways and leave "presents" along them. Some folks with large colonies wear hard hats. -- John

[white-out]

Are martins messy and having them within 5 to 10 feet of the driveway a no-no?

They're birds, they poop on the fly and while sitting whenever and wherever they choose. They will develop preferred fly-ways and leave "presents" along them. Some folks with large colonies wear hard hats. -- John

I know it sounded dumb but my House Wrens are so clean I thought it might be possible with Martins.

[mjfog]

I agree with rrmartins. I would have located the colony on that rise to the left of the drive pictured in the last two photos of your property; close to the pond and a good distance from the trees behind the house. Cozy looking homestead, by the way. Seems I remember the 60 foot rule - distance from outermost canopy of the tree to your colony.

[bootjack farm]

I grouped my housing together for years but had no success other than visitors. I had an opportunity to have local mentor Ed Pace to come view my site. He suggested moving some of my housing to a different more "attractive" location. Later that same year I also had a chance to talk to Andy Troyer about the same issue. He agreed with Ed.

Long story short, I added housing at the suggested location (farther from trees but farther from water) and Bang!...I became a landlord. The following year both separated units had birds in it. So think about having a mentor view your site and don't be afraid to divide up your two units until you to become a landlord. The Martins will tell you which site they prefer.