I have prided myself in the attention I give my birds. Yes, I know, the Purple Martins are not truly mine but the care I lavish on them is appreciated by them. The trust they show me as I hoist the gourd racks up or down and they sit and wait patiently with bugs in their mouths. Waiting to take them into their gourds to feed hungry nestlings. Imagine my chagrin when over the past week or so an ASY male is dive bombing my head relentlessly. Within inches he strafes my head to the point where I fear for my life…or at least my eyesight. Going to the mailbox which is at the opposite side of a acre + lot even rankles him. What could have upset him so much to the point of this hatred he apparently has for me? Forever the OCD’er that I am, I have thought of a few scenarios.

First, I think this male may be the same male from the natural gourd that was eaten by the red corn snake several weeks ago. There are 2 new nests with nestlings that hatched in the last week and the male may well be one of those daddy’s. Could the ASY male that lost his family just be blaming me for his misfortune? The male survived that attack and definitely saw me removing both the snake and the one last remaining dead nestling from that gourd. Could he be associating the tragedy with me as I was the last one seen at the scene of the crime?

Perhaps it is a totally different male from one of the other new nests. There is a new nest of 5 eggs that on the last nest check (May 28) I found one of the eggs had been broken. Could have been the work of a clumsy fledgling. They seem to be going in and out of nest indiscriminately and getting their tails beat in the process. Maybe the male saw me remove this broken egg from the nest? I have heard that one should shield any dead young and/or eggs from the sight of other martins so to not upset them. Though I generally try to do this, there are times when I am sure some birds may see what is going on.

In short, I am not sure what to do other than wear protective head gear and eyewear whenever I am outside. Though I doubt there is any available treatment for my wounded pride.
Nestcam update. The 5 nestlings on the Nestcam are due to fledge as early as June 2. You can watch them leave gourd #4 on the Colonycam. After they fledge I will move the camera to a gourd on the lettered rack and at that time I may move the main Colonycam so that the Sunset Inn house and lettered rack are in view.

---

Nestcheck for 5/28

Young in nests remaining:  46

Eggs in nests remaining:   27

Total fledged to date:  66

©2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com

The pregnant clouds finally broke their water and the rain has been relentless for the last 3 days. 5 minutes of sunshine then another “contraction” in the form of thunderstorms. I am glad and the birds seem to be handling the frequent downpours well. There is enough pause between and the storms are scattered enough that they are feeding just fine. A nest check is overdue on all racks and if the thunder stays away while the kids are napping, I may try to squeeze one in today.

The earliest of fledglings seem to still be returning to the gourds at night to sleep but it is hard to determine just what is going on. The other night on the nest cam I noticed what seemed to be 3 adults in with the 5 nestlings in Gourd #4. They were all sleeping peacefully but I doubt that was the case when the party crasher arrived.

---

---

Contact number for Folke Peterson 561-793-2473

Purple Martins on Nestcam gourd #11 have fledged!

It is official, they are flying around like maniacs. A bit unsteady but apparently without incident. The Nestcam was so dirty that it was hard to make out who was even in the gourd. I finally brought myself to lower the rack and in doing so flushed out a few straggler fledglings from gourds #11 and 12 but it had to be done. At approx 31 days old, I knew they would be fine. The Nestcam is now cleaned off and on gourd #4 which needs a watchful eye as I have not seen daddy helping and mom seems to be taking her time with feedings. The babies did not seem as plump as I would like and they seemed a bit bony so I will be watching this gourd closely to make sure that they are getting enough to eat.

Two of the nests are down right nasty and if it were not for a clutch of new eggs in gourd #8 (a renest attempt) I would have done a nest change. This was the first nest check for the numbered gourd rack in over a week so a complete check was long overdue. But to do a full nest check and then do a nest change also would take too much time. The nastiest of the nests is due to fledge within a week so I am considering leaving it be. OR I may go out tomorrow and bring the rack down and change the nesting material. I hate the thought of them in that mess.

Under the lettered gourd rack, I found a dead nestling. Approx 4 days old and it had been dead quite some time. It came from gourd H and the other 5 nestlings in the gourd seemed fine. The are about 8 days old. I will never know what was the cause. An SY male perhaps or just a case of natural death and the parents cleaning house. 

I am unable to check the telescopic pole as the nestlings in the aluminum Sunset Inn house are ready to fledge at any time.

In other news: There is lots of racoon feces on our patio and I am starting to get more nervous. A flicker has been cleaning out the screech Owl box since the owls are gone and one of the tidbits it threw out was a whole owl egg. I fear the owls did not have a successful clutch in my yard.

Partial nest check results (unable to check telescopic pole)

Total Eggs:  17 + (10 eggs unable to verify if hatched)

Total Young:  53 (Plus 15 on other pole?) 68

Total (active) Nests:  22

Fledged to Date: 28

I was just outside letting my dog out for his last foray of the night. The air is perfectly comfortable and a perfect South Florida night. The neighborhood Chucks Will-widow is calling out in its haunting and beautiful call. My son who was up all night with a 103 fever seems back on the mend. All is right with the world. 

Friday I will be doing a nest check. Looking at my watch I see it IS Friday so this is not much of a heads up. Since several nests are due to hatch, I will probably do another check come Sunday. (Just for fun!) Sometime between 3pm and 5pm EST, the usual time.  Of course, you can watch me on the Birdcam and laugh at me, if you like.  Also, the nestcam has one egg hatched so far and 4 more eggs at any moment.

Their are several starlings that are regularly feeding in my yard every morning. I have made feeble attempts with my pellet gun, to no avail. My aim is ridiculously bad and every time I squeeze off a shot, I blush with shame. Both from my bad aim and the picture I make, out in the yard in my bathrobe, morning hair and a pellet gun. The neighbors at least have free entertainment. I even have put out my home made wire bait trap which I used last season as a holding cage for the starlings. It is even more poorly made than my repeating nest trap. The starlings have no interest however in the popcorn and cereal I have placed inside. I will persist though. Should I ever manage to catch something with the trap, my husband owes me a sushi dinner. Yesterday evening I saw a lone starling perched on the phone line stalking my colony. Fortunately I am using SREH (starling resistant entrance holes) so my birds are safe, for the most part.

On another bird note. The mocking bird fledgling is almost indistinguishable from its parents. It follows its parents in the yard. Silently doing their wing displays as they scurry from spot to spot on the lawn. I only see the one fledgling which speaks volumes on the survival rate of these brush nesting birds. The neighbors which have at least 2 cats are constantly on the prowl. My dog has chased them out of my yard and away from the purple martin poles on numerous occasions. I am not sure how I will address the issue come fledge time but if I have to chase cats, I will. Another reason to call me a crazy bird lady. All I need now is a little more gray hair.

Blog contents/photos © 2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com

Today brought some much needed rain and another nest check. The South Florida drought is again becoming more threatening, but today’s passing showers brought a brief respite. The birds enjoyed the morning shower, though brief, with zealous preening and a social hour. The skies cleared for the early afternoon only to darken again around 5pm and then finally open up for another soaking before dusk. The skies remained solemn as darkness fell and the birds retired quietly for the night.

The nest check started around 4:30 on the gourd rack and house that is off camera. My 2 young children were taking a nap (YEAH!) and I was in checking on them frequently. I finally got to the gourd rack on the webcam right around 5 and the wind was starting to gust.

As I now have 31 compartments, I will post total numbers unless something of interest needs to be posted.

Total eggs: 65 Total young: 13

The two nests in the aluminum house have 6 eggs and 5 eggs, Numbered rack has only one troyer with no eggs. I added 2 more Troyers to the Lettered gourd rack and all the other gourds seem to be occupied but the egg laying has slowed to a crawl. Of the 10 gourds on this rack only 2 have eggs and only 1 egg in one and 2 in the other. I wonder if the dry weather is a form of natural birth control for the martins?

The pipping egg, that I had posted about recently had been in gourd #3. Among the first of this years babies to hatch, these nestlings are between 5 and 6 days old. I counted and there were only 4 of them. I was excited to meet the little nestling that would be some 2 days younger than his nest mates. I was curious to see how he would be fairing as the ‘runt of the litter’. I lifted a few of the fat little bodies out of the way and found the egg buried underneath them. The same as I had left it, with the hopeful hole pecked perfectly in the center of the egg. A small beak just below…only dead. Oh how sad. How close this baby had been to the world. What could have happened? I am guilt stricken.

This brings up an important point about pipping eggs that some may not be aware of.

There are 3 things that can cause a pipped egg to die without hatching.

1. Humidity too high
2. Humidity too low
3. Poor or bad circulation of air

When an egg is pipping the amount of humidity or moisture in the air is critical. Being a wild bird, the humidity level in the nest is not something that we can monitor or adjust for. The birds know what they are doing. Some people have said that perhaps that is why green leaves are brought into the nest. It is one of those things that God endows his creatures with an inner knowledge that man, in all our sophistication, may never truly understand. When it comes to poultry, it is commonly understood that slightly too high humidity can drown a nestling. And humidity just a tad too low can cause the membranes to stick around the nose and basically suffocate the nestling.

The third and last cause, improper or poor air flow/circulation may well have been the likely culprit in this case. Nestlings can pip fast or slow and they do it in their own time. When it comes to poultry a chick can take an hour or a day…it’s really up to the bird. So the fact that I did not see movement was not a concern but, It may well have been dead when I found it initially. We also have to consider that the other nestlings were being fed. The nestlings at 2 days old were already more than twice the size of the egg. They were mobile and wiggling around the nest to some extent. Raising their heads and instinctively positioning themselves in the nest. All it would have taken is one of the nestlings to rest its head over the small hole or for the moving babies to cause the egg to roll over enough to suffocate the nestling inside. I took care when putting the egg back in the nest to position it as I had found it…pip up and small side down. But I should have looked at the egg more carefully, to in fact confirm movement. I should not have assumed that the nestling was alive and well. Maybe in placing it back in the nest after picking up and replacing nest mates, that its ideal spot was disturbed and it was then more likely to roll to the side-sealing its fate? I will never know. Fortunately the 4 other nestlings are fat and oblivious to their brother (or sisters) demise. It’s a hard life-a birds life. Maybe that is why we work so hard to make the little parts we can easier for our martins. As you can see by the post mortem photo, that the nestling appears asleep and peaceful. Its little beak was through the inner membranes.

Speaking of hatching. The eggs in gourd #11 are due to hatch as of Wednesday April 15. So keep an eye out for more pipping and cross your fingers! Watch them on ournestcam, of course.

Other good news is the gourd on the Shepard’s hook now has 5 eggs. I wonder how those babies will feel about me mowing the grass and peeking in as I drive by?

Photos and Blog contents © 2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com

I have had a busy day so without further adieu-the nest check!

Gourd #1- 5 eggs
Gourd #2- 5 eggs
Gourd #3- 4 twodayolds & one pipping egg
Gourd #5- 5 eggs
Gourd #6- 6 eggs
Gourd #7- 1 onedayold and 3 eggs
Gourd #8- 4 eggs
Gourd #9 -5 threedayolds
Gourd #10- 6 eggs
Gourd #11- 5 eggs (on nestcam-due to hatch 4/16!)
Gourd #12- 4 eggs

Gourd A- unable to find any eggs (previously had 1)
Gourd D- 1 egg               Gourd J- 2 eggs (had 1 egg on 4/7)

Excluder gourd -5 eggs

Natural horizontal gourd - 5 eggs

Sunset Inn compartment A – 6 eggs            Compartment F -4 eggs

AND the shepards hook gourd (located some 35 feet from the gourd racks about 5 feet off ground) with 2 eggs

For a grand total of 69 eggs and 10 young.

---

The Hawk

As usual, the red tailed hawk continues to make lazy attempts at catching one of the martins. I am not very good at raptor ID, so for all I know, it is a immature hawk practicing. The attacks always frighten and always send the martins up in a flurry of purple. He sat on the top of the purple martins favorite slash pine and was punished for his impudence! Martin after martin dove and harassed till he eventually flew off in disgust. He almost seemed embarrassed. Unfortunately, I am sure he will recover and visit again. Come fledge time, I am already making plans to sit out on a lawn chair and babysit. For today perhaps the hawks are busy chasing down mockingbird fledglings that keep finding their way into our garage…much to the chagrin of their parents.

---

The Surprise

I had a series of firsts for today. I witnessed my first pipping egg, which is simply put, an egg in the process of hatching. It is pretty amazing and very slow. The nestlings little beak is just visible through the small hole that it has pecked through the shell. The nestling will have to slowly chip at the egg, the entire circumference of the egg. Since this is the last egg in this nest, there is no danger of the shell becoming encapsulated. An encapsulated egg can cause the death of the nestling inside and should be watched for. During nest checks if portions of the shell remain in the nest, you should remove the pieces. These egg shells can fall over unhatched eggs and trap the nestlings inside-encapsulating them within.

My other first was 2 eggs discovered on a Shepard’s hook gourd. The first year I put up housing for purple martins, the first birds that landed on it were Tree Swallows. Now at the time, I did not know that the Tree swallows were only migrating through, as south Florida is a bit too far south for them. I put up the shepards hook as a “just in case”. I placed it about 35 feet from the purple martin housing and every year I get a male who claims it. Last year a pair built a nest but no eggs were ever laid in it. I think it was just an extra nest built by a pair that nested in one of the other gourds. This year appears to be different. I checked the shepards hook, more as a courtesy, not really expecting to find anything, and lo and behold!!! 2 shiny white eggs! The Shepard’s hook is not more than 5 feet in total height. It has an aluminum stovepipe predator guard, that I wax every year. And now it has 2 eggs! Time will tell if the eggs will be tended to. Perhaps they were just dumped there. A female needing to lay eggs but not having a mate, nest, or the inclination to tend to them. But there they are. I hope they will be OK. It does go to show how martins will overcome many “imperfect” site issues for the sake of being within the safety of a large colony. As most people will tell you that the ideal height for a purple martin nest is at LEAST 10 feet, 12-15 even better. So a 5 foot Shepard’s hook is a stretch.

As I did todays nest check I looked up at one point and saw well over 45 birds flying about. I was dumb-founded and I must say it was an impressive site. As always, my heart skipped a beat.

Blog contents and photos © 2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com

Gourd #1- 3 eggs
Gourd #2- 5 eggs
Gourd #3- 5 eggs
Gourd #5- 2 eggs
Gourd #6- 6 eggs
Gourd #7- 4 eggs
Gourd #8- 3 eggs
Gourd #9 -5 eggs
Gourd #10- 6 eggs
Gourd #11- 4 eggs
Gourd #12- 4 eggs

Gourd A- 1 egg
Gourd J- 1 egg

Excluder gourd -5 eggs

Natural horizontal gourd - 5 eggs

Sunset Inn compartment A – 6 eggs

For a grand total of 62 eggs in 15 gourds and 1 nest in house.

---

I AGAIN tried to adjust the nestcam and can not get it aimed quite right. I will try, yet again on Saturday when I do the next nest check. I hope to go to Green Cay this Friday. I wanted to go last week but between my dental problems and our schedules; it was not possible.  I must admit that my spirits are always lifted when it comes to purple martins, but as of late any joy is somewhat muted with pain. Hopefully the worst is somewhat over and my dental issues will improve, as will my humor.

 

 (c) Blog contents copyright 2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com

Copyright: S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com

Don’t get me wrong. My excitement is tempered with a healthy dose of reality. The nestcam is using mogulus.com (thank you tech support) and the birdcam is using Ustream.tv. I welcome any and all feedback on which you like better. Both insert the most annoying ads that I do NOT profit from. So please, no hate mail. The weight of the camera housing makes the gourd list to the side a bit but not too bad. Gourd #4 was the winner of the online poll to determine which gourd would get the camera first. The Nestcam seems to kick off a bit more frequently which requires me to focus a fair bit of my OCD tendencies to checking the 2 spare computers Internet connection. My husband is at the end of his patience…I think. I only know I would be. I am sure he wonders when he will get me back from the birds and is counting the days until the season is over.

This has been a very busy year. Between the websites and all that entails and my outreach efforts, I have been talking, thinking, and breathing purple.

I don’t know if I mentioned the Purple Martin presentation I gave at Green Cay Nature Center a few weeks ago. There were some 20 + people there and many questions were asked. I brought a selection of gourds and tried to “make some converts”. I have also been sending out flyer’s to local residences that have purple martin houses in their backyards.

My martins appear very happy and are quite loud. The pool water feature runs 24/7 to mask any noise that may attract Owls. We added the sheet metal to the pine tree under the Owls nest box and hope that helps to keep them safe from raccoons. But back to the martins, I need to hang more gourds to accommodate the birds that have yet to arrive. I still have yet to see a SY.

On today’s nest check I noticed that most of the gourds had either pine bark or leaves brought in and all seem used. Spotless clean of course but all but 1 or 2 have perfectly shaped nest bowls swirled like soft serve ice cream.

I hope you all enjoy the nest cam and bird cam and let me know what you think.

Oh gosh! If I never have to deal with this webcam debacle, I will die happy!! It may not be THAT bad, but dealing with this webcam has been a testament to God given patience and a few wine coolers. So most of you know about the webcam. How many of you know what a royal pain in the toukis it is?

I NOW have the webcam with another broadcasting site called  www.ustream.tv . The actual site is at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/purple-martin-colony-cam and as of now it is working…knock on wood. It seems that computers have a love hate relationship with routers. Routers are those little boxes that hook up your computer to high speed Internet connections and wireless connections in your house. They are a Godsend and a curse. First of all you want the router to protect your computer from pre-pubescent jerks trying to wreck havoc on your PC. The hackers now troll your neighborhood looking for wireless connections to hack into your computer. BUT to connect a webcam to another computer somewhere else, you have to tell your router that some things are OK. But I digress.

So camstreams is out (couldn’t get it to keep working) , Uviewit is out (too expensive!), Mogulus is out (could never get that one to work at all!) and we are now on Ustream.tv. I MUST apologize for the ads that pop up on the stream. I must assure you that I, purplemartins-r-us.com or MyPurpleMartinBlog.com Do NOT get anything from those ads. It is a trade for the service provided by ustream.tv. They let me stream for free…I put up with intrusive ads for skittles or whatever it is. So please forgive me for that.

NOW, about my Purple Martins. Who really cares about webcams! I am up to a dozen birds, or so I think. The Sunset Inn has drawn a few birds as residents. Which is interesting as last year the rack filled up completely withASY martins before the old plastic house got any traffic. It eventually got its fair share of SY’s. This year the new Aluminum house already has a lone ASY male on the far side AND a possible ASY PAIR on the near side. I added a 2×4 wire Owl protecting “cage” to the front of the house for added security. The Purple Martins are navigating the wire with no difficulty.

I took the pellet gun for some target practice and appear to be a terrible shot. A far cry from my marksman days in the US Army. Then again, if it was a BB rifle I am sure I would be a better shot. It is a pump up pellet handgun and my arms shake like jello after a few shots. I am consistently to the right of the target and no amount of site adjustments seems to alter that. Weird.

As per my previous post the birds are still staying close to home with birds around till noon and then back checking in after 3 or so. They are gearing up and I can’t wait to see them bringing in the pine needles!!!

Blog & Photos Copyrighted 2009: S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com

It may be a sign that the ASY Purple Martins at my site are aware of something. I have not seen any SY birds yet but today the 8-10 birds that I have have been checking in quite often throughout the day. That is a major change as up until now they have been keeping a low profile.

The usual behaviour includes no birds around the housing after 9AM or so. No birds back at all (for the most part) until they are ready for bed. At 6 PM they zoom in without much ceremony at all. But today I have noticed that they are back and forth at the housing. All ASY birds still, but they are peeking in compartments, in and out of gourds, looking at the new Sunset Inn house and all around showing a high level of interest in the housing all day so far.  Even when they are not on the housing I can see them at a distance and here them occasionally. So they are staying closer to home. It will be interesting to see how they act this evening and if this behaviour is just a well deserved break after several weeks of cool weather and gusty breezes that would make their foraging for food a challenge. Perhaps the food is abundant today and they have the resources to keep a closer eye on the housing. Or perhaps there are some SY’s moving in.  Another possibility is that these are new birds moving in and NOT my birds at all. Simply other landlords ASY’s checking up on the neighbors. As you may know, arrival of the younger subadult birds (the SY’s) seems to coincide with nest building and an overall serious tone to the nesting season. These early weeks, prior to the SY’s arrival are much less intense.

Time will tell if which of these scenarios is in fact the case. At any even the frequent visits are a real treat and have perked up my spirits.

On another note, my Live Streaming Birdcam is still online HERE at PurpleMartins-R-Us.com. After 8PM I am working on trying to get the webcam up via http://purplemartinsrus.camstreams.com, an online broadcast site. As I work on the camstreams site I will eventually replace this as the source for my sites Live Birdcam. The previous software has changed its pricing as has become much to costly! Having the Camstreams site will allow me to have the Birdcam be on a site that is not commercial in origin.

Blog & Photos Copyrighted 2009: S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com