No sign of Beau today, but then again it is very difficult to tell them apart. Actually none of the parents and fledglings came around today. There is a ton of smoke from brush fires in the area that made the air thick and hazy. I wonder if that decreases bugs and thus makes it harder to feed? The busiest activity was in the AM with several SY males laying claim to the now empty gourds that the babies fledged from. I see no new nesting and I think that’s about it as far my colony goes.

Natural gourd #8 which had 3 eggs has hatched. The parents are busy with the ins and outs of feeding young. 2 gourds are ready to fledge and that will be the next buzz of activity.

On a business note: I have done a few Purple Martin comic strips. I think they are funny…you be the judge. Check them out at the photo gallery. Click on the photos link to the right.

The trials and tribulations of being an overly obsessed Purple Martin Landlord. Hmmm, I am sure that this whole ordeal has shaved a few years off my life. BUT all is well that ends well. Let me start from the beginning of the day.

AM: I called the Folke Peterson Wildlife Center. I asked to speak to “anyone” as all the times I have called regarding the fledgling, I spoke with the receptionist only.

They transferred me to the Executive Director, Heather Landstrom. We had a nice long talk. She told me that she had received a few emails in regards to the Purple Martin. She had just had a meeting with the Veterinarian and wanted to be kept apprised of his situation. She was told that he had come to the center dehydrated and underweight. That he was doing well and they wanted to flight test him sometime early next week. I agreed that him being flight tested was a great idea and I was wholeheartedly behind that idea. As soon as he passed his flight test, he would be released ASAP, preferably at his natal site. I was THRILLED. I told her all about how fearless Purple Martins can be of humans. That for hundreds of years, these birds have nested almost exclusively in man-made housing. That these birds thrive within close proximity to human activity. How Indians would put gourds up for Purple Martins and benefit from a mutual symbiotic relationship. She was very cordial and showed great interest in Purple Martins and little Beau.  I was reassured that I could call on her personally and would be kept in the loop of any and all developments in Beau’s care and release.

PM: I received a call from Dr.Dacia Oprisanu. She told me that a flight cage became available and that they had just flight tested the young martin. AND that he FLEW!! I was so happy and excited. She even told me that I could pick him up today to release him at his natal colony site. (HOME!)  I didn’t think today was a good idea as most of the martins were already off feeding for the afternoon. The parents that are actively feeding are here, of course, but I felt that an early AM release would be perfect. Activity here is always busiest from sunrise till about 11, then it tapers off to a ghost town till about 4 pm or so.

So, that’s what today brought. Answered prayers and hope for the future of a little bird named Beau.

Lessons learned from my experience with Beau, my grounded Purple Martin Fledgling.

#1 Make sure the phone number you have for a rehabber actually works, Nothing worse than calling a number when you need it and the line has been disconnected.

#2 contact the rehabber BEFORE any problems, forge some kind of relationship where they understand your role as a Purple Martin landlord. Just because a rehabber works with birds doesn’t mean they work with Purple Martin landlords.

#3 Bring them donuts or coffee to maintain open friendly communication. A little grease goes a long way.

Why do I say all this? Well, the good news is Beaus prognosis is “Excellent” and he is “Eating well” And that is all the info I can get on him. I would get more info calling the White House to get the Presidents prostate exam results.

Not that they don’t know what they are doing. Actually the opposite is true. It is a large wildlife hospital and has State of the art facilities. But bigger usually means more bureaucracy and the little people get lost in the mix. They have alot more important things on their mind  than placating a Purple Martin Landlord, I know. I don’t feel like they understand a landlords role as an active conservationist. Maybe I’ll make those donuts jelly filled.

The colony is doing great. The recently fledged young come by during the day. Some nest in their gourds, some don’t. Seems like they are still staying together in family groups. Several SY males have taken to claiming the gourds during the day, trying to attract a mate. The ASY males chase them off when they return with the young occasionally.

Nest check done-Finally! Tally as follows:

Total eggs laid to date: 72

Total eggs hatched to date: 59

Eggs still incubating: 6

Eggs lost: 7

Not bad at all!

Several nests are due to fledge in about a week. This may well be the last nest check in the house until those babies are airborne. I treated all nests with sevin as I had noticed, Beau had a few mites on him. Not many at all, and I did not see any on the nest check.

I almost had an aneurysm trying to raise the house up. The winds are gusting quite a bit and I had to get my spouse to help me raise the pole. The one pole has developed a slight bend and there is a portion that is very hard to raise. Once you get past that part, its smooth sailing. Regardless, next year I will be getting a new pole. He doesn’t know it yet.

What a gloriously happy and melancholy day. Today was Fledge day for a bunch of Purple Martins. A few had ventured out yesterday but the rest (total of 15) braved the big world today. It was quite an experience. The activity level was over the roof. Birds .swooping and chirping. Babies flying to and from trees, back and forth. Squabbles breaking out as the fledgelings kept trying to investigate compartments with their new found freedom from the gourds. I watched and it occurred to me that many of these birds would fall prey to some tragic fate. Food for some predator. Perhaps to green to survive such a dangerous world. I read an article of how somewhere in South America the martins are viewed by some as pests and were driven off by “air horns and an unidentified pesticide”. My heart broke.

At sunset, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a martin fledgling on our chain link fence. I had seen it there earlier and now it was fluttering wildly. I finally realized that its foot was stuck in the fence. It was hanging upside down flapping about and I ran out to see. Thankfully no hawk had seen it there. It would have been an easy meal. I ran up to it and when I was within a foot it dropped to the ground. It flapped about and was unable to fly. Perhaps just too weak from not having eaten. Its legs appeared undamaged. More importantly, its wings seemed OK. I prepared an empty gourd in a cage in our garage. I will evaluate it in the AM and hopefully there is nothing broken.  It looked at me quite curiously, with a tilt to its head. First one way then the other. I fed it half a dozen dried crickets and about a dozen mealworms. It gobbled up its meal with a big bird appetite. Finally it snuggled in the gourd, familiar and safe. To dream of fat dragonflies and a calm, clear, blue skies.

Well, the big day came and everyone is holding tight. No babies trying to fly just yet. They are flapping up a storm in their gourds though. Poking their little heads out. But no brave daredevils just yet.

I continue to witness the most peculiar behaviour from the parents of several nests. They fly over to the neighbors yard and appear to be “eating” something in the grass. They fly a few feet in the air then quickly land on something…pecking at it. Then fly up to the nests and feed “it” to their young. I thought perhaps they are loading the babies up with small rocks/grit to help them digest food. But I continue to see this time after time. Usually one will start then 5 or 6 others will follow suit and do the same. Always in the same section of the neighbors yard. From what I can see of the yard, it is fairly well covered with wild grasses. I am perplexed!!!

2 hawks made their presence known. The martins are on their toes as 15 babies are constantly sticking their heads out. Tomorrow is the official day. The earliest that the Martins can fledge from nest 1,2 and 10. They are noisy and on nest cam they are a curious sort. A comical bunch to watch. One will be napping, one preening, one or two at the entrance, another pecking at the camera. Very cute to watch. Hard to imagine how tiny they were 25 days ago.

Another pair seems to have taken up residence in the gourd that was abandoned. Hopefully that will end well. The ASY male sleeping on the porch is holding his own. I am running the pool till about 12:30 at night to mask any noise the birds make. Hopefully that is keeping the martins from becoming the owl dinner hot spot of Loxahatchee. Of course, my pool guy keeps changing it…humpf.

Fledging time is close at hand. I have noticed a change in the behaviour of the 3 nests that are due to fledge on May 3rd. First off, the parents have cut down on their bringing food to the nests. They are gone longer and are less…frantic about bringing food. Secondly, there is a steady stream of Martins that come to the entrance of the gourds. They peek in and appear to be ‘talking’ to the young inside. I have already stepped up my walk-unders and hawk patrols. I also will not do any further nest checks on the gourd rack until the 3 nests have fledged. The house is overdue for a check.

My Owls are incubating, I believe. The male now sits outside the nest box and I assume the female is within. I will keep my hat on when I am out there. I here that they can get quite protective…

A male Starling haunting my Martin’s housing was the beginning of bad omens. A hawk attack this AM heralded more doom. A failed and abandoned nest of 6 eggs is now being investigated by occasional Martins. The Starling flew off with one of the eggs in his yellow beak. I had been watching the gourd hoping beyond hope that maybe I just added the days wrong and just didn’t see the pair returning. Whatever happened to the pair, it’s not happening in that gourd. Probably a hawk got the female. I remember when I checked the nest there was a green leaf on the eggs, like she was going to return shortly. But alas her eggs grew cold and dead and those 6 little babies followed their mommy up to the big bird house in the sky… What a downer.

Then the ASY male. Still sleeping on his porch. Oy, my ulcer…

Another nest check today. Sometimes I don’t know if I do nest checks to count eggs, determine dates of hatch and all that….or just because I want to play with my birds. I checked my babies, all 20 are doing fine. And 26 eggs with a few nests that aren’t done laying. A few nests that appear complete and still seeing nest building going on.

I watched a female (SY) in a natural gourd going back and forth between her gourd and a 6×6 compartment on the house. There are 2 eggs in that nest and both martins were off feeding. Back and forth for about 15 minutes, I was starting to wonder if she was going to disturb the eggs as the compartment has a crescent opening. Thus the eggs have a short distance IF by chance they rolled around in there. I am not crazy about that compartment being so small. I opened up most of the compartments to 6×12 but I didn’t want to make any crazy changes from last year. mistake.

I am already planning next year. Another pole WITH A WINCH! more gourds, all SREH (starling resistant entry holes) and all compartments in the house 6×12.

On a business note, I finished a small circular piece that I am planning on using on my decorative plates. It came out very nice. A purple martin chasing a dragonfly…

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