Purple Martin Forum

great news! Bit less than a month for us, can't wait!

PMDavid,
Good luck, but as Steve watches the forum id expect he's got some c-wire up now, a deep trench and posted sentries....

In short: Open it up now, definitely target your neighbors arrival times. the early arrivals are older birds hell bent on getting to their home colony, tough to attract them although they may visit. The scout reports are the older birds, heading to a specific site. Want a good hard date, pick the da...

have a good season!!!

Good! Its interesting how they just seem to settle like they never left.

Dave,
Texans can do no wrong kind sir! Lol

Ummmmmmm Gonzales Texas reported one yesterday. About 10 days earlier than 2020.

PMDavid, The very early corpus Christi texas arrival report last year was Jan 14, that was mr woods out at Padre island. Funny because he spoke to Mr Barrow about that bird...seems he saw the martin, reported it and then didn't see it again. I saw the report and called Mr Barrow, all excited and he ...

Cary,
Sorry to hear that. Wish you all the best this season and hope your arrivals show in force.

Congrats, I think this is a very exciting time! Better than Christmas. I think most of us are watching the reports close...I saw your arrival and snuck a peek at your arrival history, id say they were way early! Again congrats! Here i normally go by John Barrows reports before i put up systems, he h...

Congrats on your first arrival of 2021! Sounds like you were in the right spot at the right time. Its great to hear the reports come in, your season has started!! Best this year.
Tom

There's a public site we maintain, it has rope and pulley on the PMCA gourd rack and a trio mini castle with rope. Lots of kids, we put the predator guard right over the rope cleats to hide the rope. Put snake netting over top of the guard. No issues. Here at home I do the same but like you had a sm...

Mike congrats! I suspect your martin was as happy to be home as you were to accept her. Your bats and birds sound well taken care of,
Wish you all the best!
Tom

Any plant nursery, walmart or one of the big box stores will have it, its called bird netting. Mesh squares of ½ or ¾ inch would give good coverage. The netting comes in big sheets. goes above the pole guard, you get a length of about 6 feet long, 2 feet wide and wrap it like a messy wreath or a bun...

yep! Its almost time....almost time! A million small details to see to off season but fun to do. Id like a few more bungie cords for the snake netting. Should be it. Im shooting for Jan 23 to have main systems up, will provide some more for Subbies as they show. Funny you mention pine needles, there...

Roger, That is quite nice, wow! I print and use the PMCA form, then put them away. This is a great tool sir! Would have taken me 20 years to do. Ill input the data from the years past, great help. We had 3 pair of martins at our satellite site last year (2 years trying), they would enjoy the data po...

Hey Brent, Pole guards are #1 defense, cats are a worry here too. Iv not seen a cat mess with the martins but they do come around when birds are very active. Annoying to say the least especially when the young have fledged. We have coyotes in the neighborhood, so I caution the owners, hoping that wo...

Well. Louisiana LL on the board!
Best wishes to all this season

PMDave,
Checked with the 2020/2021 purple martin return wager guy (title i just thought of); unfortunately the 2008 FXDWG Dyna Wide Glide has only 6.5 minutes of Siri warranty. Stakes are high!

We will all be looking to the skies shortly!

PMDavid,
Wow, looks great. Good job. What kind of gourds will you hang? You mentioned painting, assume natural gourds?
Nevermind! I saw your earlier post on the naturals you worked hard on. Going to look great up there.
Hope it fills up in 2021!
Tom