Have you seen any martin roosts in your area? This is the time of year to note the sites and spectacular behavior of roosting Purple Martins. See for example this link which tells about a roost having more than 125,000 martins within the last week.
The famous Causeway roost at Lake Pontchartrain often has more than 200,000 birds. Many of these birds have already departed, while our "northern" birds arrive in the southern U.S. (and then depart for their wintering areas) at a later date.
I just checked the Wisconsin eBird site for this past week, and only small numbers of Purple Martins (4-6) were reported from any locations in this state. Let me know if you're seeing larger concentrations, e-mail me at: iltlawas@earthlink.net
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
refurbishing used martin houses, and a good martin news story
These used houses have not had martins in them for some years. They are in the process of being refurbished and returned to service. Some scraping and painting, a little metalwork, and new poles will make them useful again. If you have used martin housing or gourds that you'd like to donate, let us know (414-698-9108).
My friend and colleague Kim Grveles of WDNR-ER sent me this story today, which she got from Andy Paulios some time ago: on a 1200-acre property in northeastern Adams County, a man has 150 pairs of martins which produced over 700 young in 2007, probably that many again in 2008, and an unknown number this year. He has 10 poles (160 houses) with ultimate plans for at least two additional poles and more houses. He started attracting martins in 1993. Obviously, hard work pays off!
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