Opinions on my setup

[steger424]

Just wanted to post a few pictures of my setup and layout to make sure I am doing this correctly. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have 2 tripoles and gourds from TSC. Some of the pictures show 2 racks per pole but i split them up into 1 rack on each of the 2 poles. Also all of my round entrances are plugged and the cresents are open. The purple star on the map is my neighbors rack and he had martins the first year and every year since. One year the pole was attached we think since the martins left and eggs where all over the ground. So far he has 1 pair and he just has plastic gourds with round holes. Red stars are my poles.

[BillieJR]

I think your set up looks great!!! Good luck- I'm still waiting for some, too. Hopefully this is our year.

[flyin-lowe]

That looks like a very good site. Having water and a neighboring colony near by helps a lot. My only advise would be to be very careful with that pole. I am not sure what brand it is but some of those telescoping poles are not real strong, with those gourds on there I would lower it any time they are forecasting strong winds. I have one and it holds nothing but a perching station, some decoys, and a stove pipe guard and it is bent from the wind, it would have probably broken by now if it had more weight on it.

I would say it's just a matter of time before you have a colony started.
The only question I have for someone smarter then me is concerning how far apart a set up needs to be from another set up for the martins to consider it a different colony. A majority of the martins hatched at your neighbors site will not return to his site the following year. Most people think this is to avoid inbreeding. I am not sure if they would consider your place far enough away to where you could get some of his martins that fledged last year or not. Banding studies show many of them return to the same general geographical area but I am not sure how close they would get.

[steger424]

Thanks Billiejr & flyin-lowe.

I will keep an eye on the poles. They help up well with 2 gourd racks and 25 mph winds. Hopefully they will be better now that i have only 1 rack per pole.

I didnt think about being too close to my neighbor. I hope im far enough away. Do you think my 2 poles need to be closer to each other or is it ok to leave one on each side of my house like i have them.

[deancamp]

Looks good with a very open setup, yet a good distance from your house. I would think your chances are good since Martins are the best attractant for Martins. If it were me, I would leave your poles as they are and let the Martins decide which they like best. After you have some nest for a year move the other one over closer the next year. As an example, I have two poles with housing that are 25' apart. Both are being used but by watching the Martins they act as if that is a little far apart for them to bounce back and forth between the two. I definitely wouldn't go further than that and closer is probably better.

[rrmartins]

Very nice site, just get some predator guards on them!!

[steger424]

deancamp & rrmartins , thanks for the advice!

[Dave Reynolds]

,,, Looks great... Wide open fly ways is what they like .... I wouldn't change any thing... Good Luck

Dave

[steger424]

So i added my old traditional gourds below each S&K house and also played the purple martin sounds. Ive had a few fly bys today and also a few that landed in the traditional gourds and stuck their head out. They dont seem to like the S&K with owl tunnel and guards. oh well i just hope they stay!

[deancamp]

Wow, that's great. Your housing situation is similar to what happened to me. I got a Trio Castle from my Mom when she passed away, but the Martins payed no attention to it and went for the gourds. As my colony grows I think it will force them into the Trio Castle. As you are able to watch them more you will learn more about what they like. Out of curiosity, which pole did they choose?

[steger424]

The one on the right side of the house is the only one i can see with my cameras so that is all i know at the moment. Adding BlinkXT cameras to the poles later today when I get home.

[mjfog]

Your set-up looks beautiful! You'll be able to sit on your veranda, enjoy an adult beverage and observe both colonies. What a way to lower your blood pressure. As to your question concerning colony proximity, I have a buddy here in Palm City, FL who has three colonies in his pasture; a T14 built of foam panel, a Heath House reduced from 12 to 6 compartments with 6 S & K Bo9s hanging beneath the Heath and the third colony is a set-up of 12 Troyer Horizontals. Ken has very active participation at all three colonies.

[steger424]

Thanks mjfog. Yea here lately its has just been me enjoying adult beverages looking at just the houses lol. Hopefully they stay. Now I have house sparrows too and they go right into the cresent opening. Guess you cant buy an entrance to stop HOSP. Gonna keep my pellet rifle handy and also prob make a trap to get rid of these pests.

[steger424]

Here is a video of my first pair to check out the houses. Only took 3 years. I hope they stay and eventually move into the better houses. Also there is a HOSP on one of the top gourds.Gonna make a trap for that.

https://youtu.be/hxohNPTsmpU

[steger424]

Ok so no one spent the night. I had one late evening go in the gourd but didnt stay. Maybe too mach activity at the house or having the daytime chatter playing too long. Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

[flyin-lowe]

I have the Blink XT cameras at my house for security, not for my martins. As you know they are motion activated so they work good for security as they only activate when someone drives up or walks up to my house on any side. I guess at a new colony with not much activity they would be OK but if you have many birds at all around your housing they would not be ideal. Every time a bird goes by the camera it is going to start recording and you are going to eat through batteries pretty quick, plus it will likely drive you nuts with your phone getting alerts every time something flies by. Hopefully you can find a way to make them work good for you to monitor your martin setup. The batteries in my cameras are all going on 2 years old but they might go weeks or months at a time without ever activating. I live in the country so when I am not home the only time they go off is when I get a delivery or something like that. Occasionally in the fall and spring when the bee's and wasps are real active right around the house they will crawl around on the camera and set them off. I think if they were going off a bunch of times each day you will be buying a lot of batteries.

[deancamp]

Sounds promising, going into the gourd late evening leads me to believe it is looking for a home not just passing by. I would think of the chatter as keeping them company after they show up, maybe as they get more comfortable they won't need it as much??? Keep tinkering with them, you'll figure them out.

[steger424]

Thanks flyin-lowe and deancamp.

[steger424]

Windy day today and not many visitors. My houses are moving all over the place with this tri-tel pole. I think im gonna bite the bullet and buy a deluxe gourd rack or something else that doesnt sway soo much. Prob too late to put it up this year though. Any suggestions on this pole or being to late to change.

[Birds]

Man I wish my place was that open. Nice gourds though, I'm experimenting with a telescoping pole from TSC too. One thing I have noticed is that if I put the pole a little deeper in the ground then what the manufacturer recommends , it tends to sway less. Hope you have good luck this year!