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

I should have known better than to trust a weather forecast. I dated a meteorologist many years ago. Not to say anything negative about him, but if he knew what an in-exact science forecasting the weather was, I should know by now.

The cold snap of this weekend was a frigid  mid seventy degrees. The weather was beautiful and picture postcard perfect. Today may have reached the low 80′s. So much for putting out crickets. No need to bother.

This morning I may have had a new female going in and out of compartments. I WILL stay out tonight and do a good head count. I promise! The Live streaming webcam/birdcam (whatever you want to call it) is proving addicting. I hope you all are enjoying it. I am still trying to get the stream on an “impartial/non-commercial” broadcast website without luck. I was told yesterday that I need to get a static IP address as my IP address is “dynamic” In regular language it means put out more money. Which brings me to a short statement I want to make.

For anyone that thinks that my motives on my websites are dollar driven. You can not be any further from the truth. When you add up all the upfront and operational costs of designing and making a website, you would see that it will be a long time before I can retire! Without going into my finances, I just want any nay-sayers to know that having just the name of the site (ie:MyPurpleMartinBlog.com and PurpleMartins-R-Us.com) costs money. You pay per year of having the name. Then you pay someone for “hosting” the site (computer space to store all the sites information) Then the charges for someone to make it look like it does, work like it does, inventory, time, search engine/Google results…the list goes on and on. Enough said!

Oh, My sweet darling of a husband, put up a small Bat House for me. He was not thrilled, but he did it with a smile and with his usual willingness to please. I can tell he is not over-joyed with the thought of Bats living on the chimney but his love for me is stronger than his disgust of Bat guano, I suppose. I am a lucky girl!

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

The early arrival of 3 Purple Martins had me thinking that this season was ready to get underway. The cool weather and quiet attitude of my 3(?) Martins has me now thinking otherwise.

I even began to doubt if the birds were here or not. Had they only been staying a night or two to gather strength before continuing on? I would look up constantly without catching sight of any Purple Martins anywhere. So last night I sat outside and waited and waited and waited. Finally, so high that the martins appeared as specks, I saw 2 of them. Eating feverishly in the last moments of daylight. Pickings must be slim with the combination of cool weather and winds which are getting stronger today. When they could wait no longer they dove into what will be gourd #5. The male only pausing at the entrance long enough to allow his mate entrance. A brief and quiet call and he shuffled in. So, that’s the story. Early arrivers face challenges no matter the latitude. The task of foraging is keeping them busy all day and the weather is supposed to get even cooler and more windy. I doubt I will see much of the martins while the cool snap is hanging around.

 I stood there and stared at the gourd rack. I noticed something else. The third female peeking out of what will be gourd #3. Sneeky, sneeky, sneeky!

The winds are from the North now at about 10mph, gusting to 15. Showers are expected. It will be Cold all weekend. I know, I know…South Florida. We don’t know what cold is!

I will put out dried mealworms and crickets in the feeder. Supplemental feeding is not common in Florida. So the chances of them actually eating them are slim. But I will put them out and my conscience will be clean and clear.

The webcam is working great and I am waiting on another camera to hook up what will be a nest cam. I am VERY pleased with the clarity of the picture so far. It a Lorex product and the tech support is very fast and efficient. I highly recommend the camera.

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

Some people talk about their Purple Martins and area able to tell you certain personality quirks or details that distinguishes one bird from another. I have no such special gift. I can only look at my birds and tell you if it is a male or female Purple Martin and if it is an adult(ASY) or subadult(SY).

So today along with my pair, that I have NO CLUE as to which gourd they are staying in, there is an extra female. I was told by Annie in Wisconsin (Thanks Annie!!!)  what gourd it may be which reminded me that I desperately need to number my gourds. Thank goodness for my fellow Purple Martin Conservation Association “forumites”!

Which reminds me. I wanted to mention to any New Purple Martin enthusiasts that the Purple Martin Conservation Association has an active forum to help those new in the hobby. They are a not for profit organization and a portion of the money they make goes directly to Purple Martin research. They are most worthy of your support. Check out their website, www.purplemartin.org .

I went to the Folke Peterson Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers event this past Saturday. It was called the “Call of the Wild”. I gave the Purple Martin Conservation Associations PowerPoint presentation on Purple Martins. Well, I did AFTER they finally got the computer working! I had to go without ANY slides or pictures for the first 15 minutes or so, after having to start about 15  minutes late due to the technical issues. It started out with a big crowd but the computer issues discouraged some and I ended up with a small but inquisitive group that seemed genuinely interested…or too embarrassed to get up and go!!! Either way, we had a great time and I still hope that the Folke Peterson Wildlife Center will someday get to put up Purple Martin Housing.

So much stuff going on I have had NO time to go visit Joe, my purple martin friend. Some of you have read about him in past Blog entries. I have to admit I have neglected him miserably. I promise that I will visit him soon and update you ASAP. Search for Jose in the search box to the right to read past entries on Joe.

Farewell for now!

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

Certain things I just love. Like the the way a new car smells, new carpet, fresh laundry, new purple martin equipment. Yes, I know, most people don’t put bird houses on a list with clean clothes. I mean, it’s destined for the dirtiest of jobs. Bird poop in abundance, parasites, torrential rain and abuse from the elements. But still, the shiny metal and fresh plastic gourds are so clean and virginal, it seems a shame to get it all messed up. WHat am I talking about!?!? This is a hobby where your success is almost measured by the mess that you have to clean up at seasons end. The bigger the mess-the more Purple Martins you hosted. Right? Of course! We even go to the lengths of “dirtying up” a nest so it looks used. Smear a little mud here, a little dirt there, shove some old dried up pine needles in the compartment. Why heck, we have our new equipment looking like a college dorm room in no time!

Well, my new Purple Martin Gourd rack is up. For those following you know the quandry I was in to broach the subject of “what I wanted for Christmas.” I didn’t know how to convince my husband that a new gourd rack was ESSENTIAL to our marital bliss. But My husband is a smart man and a good man. In the end he asked me what I wanted for the holidays and I got my new rack. 

So there stands my new Creative Universe rack. Taking the place of a Quad tel pole that I almost ruptured a hernia on several times. 8 plastic gourds were too much to ask of me to lift up on a telescopic pole. The pole would slide through my hands with the speed of a demon if I forgot to put gloves on. Thankfully, never jarring an egg…but still. I was tempting fate. The attempts at lifting the rack back up were a true comedy act. By the end of the heavy hoist upwards, my arms would be trembling like a dried autumn leaf rustling violently by an Arctic blast, refusing to drop to the ground. Sweat would bead off my face like an Olympic runner…not that Jamaican runner though. A runner that actually had to put some effort into it. SO what was I to do? Tell a couple of birds that, “Hay, this rack is way to heavy so get outta here!” Heck no! I kept debating adding more but sensibility kept it at the 8 gourds that faithfully tended to 8 pairs of Purple Martins.

So back to my new rack. Concreted to perfection. Pulley rope wound neatly. I seem to find reasons to go out and lower it and raise it. The effortless rise, the graceful descent…oh the fluid movements. I sit and watch the rack at night on my new bird cam awaiting another day to play with it again. Can you tell how happy my husband has made me. I bask in the glow and await my birds return!

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