I am not sure how long this deal will be going on. It includes a New Starter 4 purple martin gourd rack and 4 Troyer gourds of your choice. The usual cost for this system is $250. The special package price is only $218 which makes it a bit more cost effective for those that are looking to buy an inexpensive martin house.

These Starter 4 racks are new to the market place and feature a pulley system for those that don’t want to deal with hoisting up a telescopic pole and want the benefits of a gourd rack at a great price. I started out in purple martins with telescopic poles but soon discovered that my manicure was allergic to raising and lowering the poles.

I am a steadfast lover of gourds over houses. The main reason is they truly reduce dominance by male purple martins that can chase other prospective residents from your house. The gourds are spaced far enough apart that this porch dominance doesn’t take place as much. Besides, gourds look cool!

The season seems to be amping up already. On 2 separate occasions, another bird or two would arrive to much singing and over all fuss and commotion. I counted a dozen easily. Of course, there is no way to know if those are my birds or others visiting from surrounding colonies, but there seemed to be birds singing about the gourd racks for much of the day.

Early in the season, after 11 am or so, the birds leave and it would be relatively quiet for much of the day. Today however, there seemed to be birds chortling and going in and out in a most robust manner.

The weather was sunny and pleasant. Flies were all over the back patio so I am sure food was abundant for the martins as my fly swatter was busy taking care of the low flying bugs.

I hope all your houses are up and ready!

Another female ASY purple martin came yesterday bringing the tally up to 5.  Also,  as if on cue,  one of the starlings that had been trying to get in the Troyer horizontal gourds finally went for the trap. Thankfully the repeating nestbox trap or S&S repeater, worked like a charm. I took a few pics of the poor fellow and humanely deposited him in the circular house at the curb.

My mother in-law was mortified. My husband, as usual, perplexed at how I can euthanize a bird and call myself a bird lover. I answered back the way I always do. That as a true bird lover, sometimes hard decisions need to be made and “my” purple martins will not suffer for the mistakes humans made by introducing the European Starling on this continent. But look out! You do NOT want me to take out the soap box again!

The live ColonyCam is up and running and it is at a slightly different angle.But I have not heard anyone complain as yet.

Yes, last week the purple martin colony cam went online. What is the colony cam? Well, it is the exterior view of a portion of my purple martin colony. Located in Sunny South Florida (Loxahatchee, which is western palm beach county, to be exact) the colony consists of 2 gourd racks and 1 multipurpose pole. The camera is currently on the “numbered” purple martin gourd rack.

As of right now there is capacity for 33 pairs but a few more gourds will go up bumping up this years capacity to about 36 pairs of purple martins. Last year 131 purple martins fledged from this site and we hope to do as well this year.

As of this morning there appears to be 2 pairs of martins. More should be showing up soon. Since migration appeared to have been delayed due to weather, the time between the ASY or adult purple martins arrival and the SY or sub adults arrival may be shorter than usual. So be prepared and get your houses up. If you live in the northern portion of the purple martins range and don’t expect them till later in the year, feel free to watch them on the web cam which should be running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…barring any technical issues which sometimes arise.

A few European Starlings keep making early morning visits but will not enter my nest trap. The first day they arrived the starlings tried to enter the trap which was stuck and since then they seem in no hurry to enter it again. Of course, it is working now but as my luck would have it, they wont even look at it again. Instead the starlings will sit and watch from atop the gourd rack and do that drawn out backwards wolf whistle that makes my hair stand up. Like fingernails on a chalk board. Normally the repeating nestbox trap also known as a S&S trap would do the trick and trap them like a charm but alas, you can lead a horse to water…  For easy to build step by step plans on how to make your own S&S trap click on the photo above or this link:  Repeating Sparrow and Starling nestbox trap plans. But in essence the trap has a clever teeter totter type mechanism that automatically resets itself after depositing the trapped bird (UNHARMED) in a cage below. A great tool for those that manage bluebird trails as well. Our native birds need all the help they can get!

I found this awesome article by Rob Fergus, co-author of The Purple Martin that states the new aggressive stance against TNR programs by 10 conservation biologists in the latest issue of the journal Conservation Biology. Basically urging conservation biologists to take a strong stand against the establishment and maintenance of feral cat colonies (Trap-Neuter-Return (or Release) programs.
Read portions of the article HERE.

It is good to see conservationists finally sounding the trumpet and trying to take on some of these groups that cause more harm with their good intentions.

So what can you do to protect the birds in YOUR yard from cats while the politicians, PETA and others hack it out? Here are a few options.

You can trap them yourself. Just minus the”Neuter and Release” part of the equation. Your neighbors may not appreciate you trapping “Fluffy”,  so this works better with feral cats. However nothing says keep your cat off my property better than a visit to the pound. The Collapsible Raccoon Trap is great for trapping cats.

You can discourage them from visiting your yard by making it cat unfriendly. Everyone knows that cats HATE water, so take advantage of that with this neighbor friendly alternative. The ScareCrow Motion Activated sprinkler shoots water out at the unsuspecting feline when the little darling decides to take a stroll through your herb garden to spread its Toxoplasmosis.

You can buy a dog that hates cats. So you may run into other problems like food and vet bills but still, it IS an option.

My Disclaimer: Please no hate mail. I actually am a cat lover…an indoor cat lover and my old cat “Elvis” was an indoor cat until the day he passed away at the age of 11. I just so happen to also be a bird lover and a conservationist. The definition of a Conservationist is “someone who works to protect the environment from destruction.” And I think studies have pretty much proved that the domestic cat is pretty destructive to wild NATIVE birds…ie: the environment. So thanks for your understanding.

Well, better late than never as they say. A day shy of a full 2 weeks late, the first purple martin has landed in South Florida for the 2010 season. A lovely ASY female, her soft chirps don’t have the same impact as the male purple martin dawnsong. Nevertheless, she is a sound for sore ears.

She busied herself preening on the wires then went about entering multiple gourds. Not shy or hesitant, she knows she is home.

I wonder for how long will she be alone?

The migration seems to be delayed this year and many speculate as to why. The recent bout of record 2 week cold seems to be an obvious reason. A others note however, martins will arrive in the worst of weather and seem to migrate on length of days and whatever internal mechanism they have. The strong northerly head winds may have dissuaded them, to some extent. And our pleasant temps in the last week and brisk tailwinds are just the thing to bring my babies home.

It’s on!!!

I told you about the new gourds by Andrew Troyer that were on the way. Brand new for 2010 the Troyer Vertical gourds are here. I am impressed by the design and I am very excited to show you the pics of these beauties.

troyer vertical gourd

13″ deep (just like a horizontal gourd) but has the aesthetic look of a “regular” gourd that many folks prefer. At around 8″ wide the interior compartment is generous in size and yet doesn’t look like a gourd on steroids as some other plastic gourds appear. It looks a lot smaller than it actually is, in fact. The weight is distributed evenly and the 4 molded canopies on the top of the gourd can be easily drilled out for added ventilation.

All in all a superior gourd that I am very happy to offer at PurpleMartins-R-Us.com

The new year came in with a cold spell that makes it easy to put off putting up my purple martin house and gourd rack. But up they must go. As of last check, there are 11 purple martin sightings across Florida and several here on the East coast. So today, despite the temperatures hovering in the 40’s, I was outside braving hypothermia to at least get things organized. The housing is still not up but the gourds are laying out on the grass and the racks are oiled and ready. Pine straw awaits patiently, having been lovingly raked up by my husband. And hopefully tomorrow will see most of the work done.

I can’t wait to see the skies above my house filled with swirling and twirling purple martins and my ears with their chortles and song.

By popular request I am updating those interested in the progress of the 3 baby gouldians that I hand fed. From hatching. All 3 are doing great. There was in fact 2 boys and 1 girl as I had thought and the youngest boy will still land on my finger and perch a bit before fluttering around the room. His name is baby and he along with his brother and sister will probably remain with me.
Though the other two will come up to me and occasionally play with my fingers they are pretty much back to being birds and have no interest in being petted or played with. As it should be, but still…Baby’s friendliness to me touches my heart and I find myself especially fond of him. His attempts at song are still quite pathetic and they are all undergoing a molt so we will see how they feather in. “Baby” will most likely be a “red headed normal” for any familiar with gouldian genetics but he will be split to white breast as will his sister. His brother is a dilute but otherwise the same.

Scout reports are popping up on the west and also the east coast of Florida as the last few days of 2009 brings in the first of the purple martins for the 2010 season. As I read M.Dingman’s report of a ASY male purple martin singing over his empty backyard, I was reminded as I have reminded others via Twitter to get your housing up early. I will be working on my housing this weekend and heading my own advice, but one never knows how early the martins will come.

As of today there have been 6 reported purple martins returning home. All 6 in Florida from Naples to Punta Gorda, from Melbourne to Okeechobee (which is a stones throw from myself) So, the reality that I may be caught with my “houses down” is a real possibility. This also means that the live Birdcam will be going up very soon.

So get them houses and gourd racks up!!

In closing I want to thank all of you for continuing to follow this blog and reading about my colony. I hope 2010 brings you peace, prosperity and many many martins!

We are entering the weeks where the first arriving purple martin sightings are made. Though only a few birds trickle in at first, these few birds serve the great purpose of getting us off our rear ends and away from all the holiday food and out in the back yard scrambling to ready our purple martin houses.

Like many landlords, I have a few plans swirling in my head. A new gourd rack has been sitting in my garage for about 10 months awaiting its christening. (A sprinkle of water as the concrete cures) New gourds sit waiting eagerly to fill up the racks and the brand new 2010 Troyer VERTICAL Gourds will be in stock before the new year and are available for preorder now. Though photos of this new gourd are not available yet, they will be up ASAP.

Troyer Vertical Gourds ?

Yes, you heard right! Andrew Troyer, the Amish gentleman who revolutionized plastic purple martin bird houses by making the T-14 (T is for Troyer) and gourds with the introduction of the Troyer Horizontal Gourd, is introducing a NEW gourd. The Troyer Vertical Gourd is brand new for 2010 and should be available within the next few weeks. It is so new that pictures are not available yet but as soon as they arrive I will be taking photos and posting them up on the website, www.PurpleMartins-R-Us.com.

From what Mr.Troyer tells me they will feature a standard built in SREH tunnel to give the same protection of the deep 13 ” nesting area AND they will be able to be hung on standard vertical gourd arms.

It’s going to be a VERY Merry Christmas!