Our 2nd year Martin colony in Kosciusko county went down in a heavy storm wed. before dusk, as I received a call at 9pm from wife as I stepped off a plane arriving at Midway airport. Her car was damaged, too.
I made a hasty decision to drive the 75 minutes from Valpo, despite how tired I was from a "business trip to hell and back in hot, desperate, Okla, MO, and KS.
Upon arrival, the house and 2 of 4 gourds still attached lay in a heap on the pier. The other 2 broke free and my son had retrieved them.
When I left last weekend, two gourds contained eggs, presumably laid appx. June 14. My heart sank, considering how hard I and particularly, the martins had worked.
I looked at the house, and pole, and it looked repairable.
I looked in the 2nd year (my only adult male and colony starter bird) gourd, and low and behold, there were 3-4 desperate, bald, fledglings.
I accepted that they had been in the cold for 4 hours (1:30 am now), but, still were moving. I recalled college biology class, using incubators and set up a light bulb in the gourd. I sawed and cut and patched and got the house back up, sans one gourd. No birds dead in the water.
At 6 am, I went out,and the 7 martins were on the house, so i set the gourd back up and the pair returned and immediately began feeding.
It is truly amazing that these little, bald fledglings will likely soon travel 4000 miles or more to South America. We had a 2nd adult male show up and cause quite a stir. I surveyed the lake via boat today, and found a house in the water that has an active colony, so this is probably his home.
The subbie eggs could not be seen in the gourds that floated for a while and the nest was basically upside down. I just returned the gourds as is, focusing on saving the fledglings, so time will tell if they nest ok
I have natural gourds without access holes, and the nests are in the extreme backside of the gourds, Now I see why access holes are desired!
How do I introduce sevin and when? The babies are a few days old.
I have a sevin spray I purchased and sprayed the nests a week of two before eggs came. I cannot pull the nests out like others do, so what to do? I do notice all the birds recently doing alot of preening and itching, so it is mite season here. Also, I see flies going in the house and gourds, so blowfly is here, too.
New colony nearly lost in storm-need sevin advice next
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
Often, 1 application of sevin will often last the entire season, especially if you spray after the eggs are there. If you have time to monitor, then I would not spray for mites again unless necessary. If you will be gone, you may try spraying under the nest about every 2 to 3 weeks, but that may not even be necessary. Sevin kills mites for about 4 to 7 days, so spraying every 2 week should be plenty.
That is a great story, about how you saved the birds. Congrats
That is a great story, about how you saved the birds. Congrats
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John Miller
- Posts: 4866
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Our hearts go out to you, but so glad you salvaged some. Let's all work at making our poles as strong as possible next year. I'm going to work on some of mine this winter.
Re: sevin. You may be okay. I'm not familiar with the liquid. You can put a pinch or two of the dust on a spoon and reach into the side corners of the nest through the entrance. It doesn't take much. I know Emil recommends no more than one-fourth teaspoon per nest. I think the fledglings come back to roost for more evenings, even a week or more, when the cavity is free of mites.
John Miller
Re: sevin. You may be okay. I'm not familiar with the liquid. You can put a pinch or two of the dust on a spoon and reach into the side corners of the nest through the entrance. It doesn't take much. I know Emil recommends no more than one-fourth teaspoon per nest. I think the fledglings come back to roost for more evenings, even a week or more, when the cavity is free of mites.
John Miller
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Guss P O'Brien
I'd put 1/4 t powder with a long plastic spoon into the side wall of every compartment. Or put the nozzle of your pump up sprayer into the nest material and give 2-3 squirts of the liquid about 1-2 fl. oz in each compartment. It's probably wise to spray all the compartment-even empties. The mites will walk through it where ever you put it in the nest and die. It's not important at all to thoroughly cover the nest.
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John Kendall
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 3:36 pm
- Location: IN/Valparaiso
Thanks to all on the sevin advice. I will do a nest check today or tomorrow and hit all the nests with a little spray away from eggs and babies.
Our new ASY(s) from the downed house did not show up since early am today, I will go by boat and check to see if the house is back up-could be weekenders at that house. Maybe the need a "martin-rescue" assist.
Our new ASY(s) from the downed house did not show up since early am today, I will go by boat and check to see if the house is back up-could be weekenders at that house. Maybe the need a "martin-rescue" assist.
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floridasunshinegoddess
JK,
I applaud you for rushing back and saving those fledglings! Keep us posted on their progress!
I applaud you for rushing back and saving those fledglings! Keep us posted on their progress!
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John Kendall
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 3:36 pm
- Location: IN/Valparaiso
My ASY/SY pair continue to feed the 3 fledglings and they looked ok on saturday nest check. The SY pair next door in their gourd are with green leaves and trying (may already have) to lay new eggs, having lost the first 2 in the storm.
The ASY who showed up on his own after the storm ( I located in the water, a downed house and no one has shown up to fix it!) is still coming around early and late and I haven't seen where he sleeps, the house, not the 4 natural gourds that are taken by subbies and my two pairs that we know have produced either young or eggs so far. There is a new house across the bay just this week that replaced a poorly managed colony that the house fell apart this winter. He may sleep there, too?
Anyway, it is fun to watch the two dark males battle, as the new one tried to sit on top of the other's gourd tonight while the colony starter male was inside with the female and young. I imitated the jeet warning call and the male stuck his head out, looked up and attacked the new male.
During this time, the SY male in the other gourd that is paired had a green leaf in his beak, flying around, worried about losing his mate.
The new ASY has been fairly aggressive, but, really is trying to fit in and more of an opportunist.
The rest of the subbie males seem to have struck a mostly peaceful coexistence with the paired birds, though, regular challenges are part of the deal and the pecking order is quickly re-established each time. They seem to me, to be learning from the more experienced birds and this must be a benefit to all-protection and learning and also, a back up male in a jiffy if a paried bird falter or dies. It makes sense that last year's unsuccessful subbies did not return to this site, taking the experience gained last year and trying it in a new location as the new kid in town, as only the one that laid eggs last year, returned this year, with a female, again.
The ASY who showed up on his own after the storm ( I located in the water, a downed house and no one has shown up to fix it!) is still coming around early and late and I haven't seen where he sleeps, the house, not the 4 natural gourds that are taken by subbies and my two pairs that we know have produced either young or eggs so far. There is a new house across the bay just this week that replaced a poorly managed colony that the house fell apart this winter. He may sleep there, too?
Anyway, it is fun to watch the two dark males battle, as the new one tried to sit on top of the other's gourd tonight while the colony starter male was inside with the female and young. I imitated the jeet warning call and the male stuck his head out, looked up and attacked the new male.
During this time, the SY male in the other gourd that is paired had a green leaf in his beak, flying around, worried about losing his mate.
The new ASY has been fairly aggressive, but, really is trying to fit in and more of an opportunist.
The rest of the subbie males seem to have struck a mostly peaceful coexistence with the paired birds, though, regular challenges are part of the deal and the pecking order is quickly re-established each time. They seem to me, to be learning from the more experienced birds and this must be a benefit to all-protection and learning and also, a back up male in a jiffy if a paried bird falter or dies. It makes sense that last year's unsuccessful subbies did not return to this site, taking the experience gained last year and trying it in a new location as the new kid in town, as only the one that laid eggs last year, returned this year, with a female, again.