I was partly amused at a story I saw on CNN this morning. Apparently the European Red squirrel is being seriously threatened by America’s larger more aggressive Grey squirrel. The red squirrels are trying to wage a comeback with the help of active conservationists who are trapping and euthanizing the American squirrels. I am sure at some point a rich American will probably spend millions of dollars to have trapped grey squirrels returned to the USA to be repatriated to their native soil.
I have written about North America’s plight against European invaders such as Sparrows and Starlings. The fight is not for the faint of heart and I am sure that it may seem cruel to some. One thing must be kept in mind. In 50 years, if nothing was ever done to control Sparrows and Starlings here…or grey squirrels in England-our native species would be urban legends. Much like the Dodo bird whose extinction was sealed when cats and dogs (among a few) were introduced to the island of Mauritius. These animals decimated the native populations of Dodos and though they did not compete with the Dodo’s, they did directly cause their demise. So, even though the squirrels in Europe and the cavity nesters in the America’s are being pushed out by direct competition by direct relatives, those related species were introduced by us. Lets not tell our Grandchildren WE were directly responsible, by our INaction to the fall of any animal. Just as we would rise up against a neighborhood bully to protect the weaker kid on the block, let us protect the weak-as God would have us do.
Blog & Photos Copyrighted 2008: S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com
I finally got the houses down and washed. The gourd rack is laying dejected on its side awaiting the final touched before being hoisted in to the garage. I am leaving all aspects of the rack intact except to place garbage bags over each individual gourd and taping it so that no critters can get in…or our for that matter. I am already on Google earth deciding where the next rack unit will go. Of course I have to decide what kind of rack I am going to go with. I am relatively sure it will be a gourd rack. But I may be swayed. I will let you know.
My fingers have been busy with painting and I have completed my best work yet. I call it “Gourd Martins” You can check out all my art at www.mypurplemartinblog.com/gallery2
As always you can visit PurpleMartins-R-Us.com for the largest selection of Purple Martin themed gifts, art, apparel and more coming everyday. Check us out!
I have also uploaded my art at imagekind.com by request. Now my art work is available with rich color duplication and archival inks. The prices are very competitive with great quality. They look like true art reproductions-not color copies. Check them out.
Jose greeted me today with a hearty “Hola!” and an invitation to have his Jell-o. He only likes the red Jell-o and he only gets the green. He tells me he has made several complaints-to no avail. I could tell him that hospitals and “homes” usually never give red Jell-o but I decide to nod my head in understanding. He finishes off his lunch and I wheel him to the courtyard.
I had many questions reeling in my head to ask him. About his martins, what brought him to Florida, his life in South America, his family or apparent lack there of. Today though, we will talk of Purple Martins. A subject free of any sadness or memories that can cause pain. He talks of his memories of hundreds of thousands of birds flying free and his spirits rise like they are lifted up by the martins themselves.
Jose was a handyman by trade. Odd jobs, car repairs, unlicensed electrical work was his forte. He laughed at my reaction to at least 4 stories of how he checked for current to electrical outlets and light sockets. I suppose whatever investment it would take to purchase a volt meter was out of the question. He would stick his finger in the socket. My disbelief is still quite strong even after his vehement and at length explanation on the difference between amps and watts and volts and I don’t even know! But on to the Purple Martins.
All his houses were handmade. He would use scrap wood and made great use of wooden pallets which he found in large quantities. Legally, I hope. The wood was rather thin and of poor quality but with a slathering of paint would last multiple seasons before needing repair or replacement. The rough wood was well liked by the martins. I showed him photos of my gourd rack and he snorted, “They look like Calabaza.” (A spanish pumpkin) I explained they were actually plastic and that brought another snort. He tried to explain his housing to me and the best I could understand is that they were 2 story square, flat roofed box type houses with no porches and round entrances. He did make the nests accessible but had a hands off approach. Usually 8 compartments per house and they were about 10 inches deep. He never used “plans” and would vary the housing depending on his whims. He estimated, at his height of “Land lording” he had about 100 pairs. “Puedia pero no queiria”, he explained. (I could have but didn’t want to) When referring to having more housing and Martins. The ‘explative’ Halcon’s (Hawks) made my life a misery, he recounted in Spanish. This was the only time when sadness entered our conversation. He told me of a season when he had fledgling’s taking to the air daily, only to be met with deadly talons and beak. His solution? “I went over into my neighbors yard one night and poisoned those trees…then I offered to cut them down over the winter for free. I was a big hero and everyone was happy.” The legalities didn’t seem to phase Jose or concern him in the least. I guess when you are 80-something you have worse things in your past to worry about than a few trees. “Susanita, can you find me help to the bathroom?”
I just wanted to wish all of you a safe and happy 4th of July. My kids are looking forward to the fireworks.
I took the house down and have yet to give it its final wash. It sits in the grass as a lonely testament to the martins departure. I remember last year I was so worried about the house as I still had babies in a nest. I was worried that the mother would abandon them from all the smoke and fireworks that goes on out here. Thank goodness we have had alot of rain. No need to worry about wildfires this 4th…or what the martins will think.
Speaking of Purple Martins. I saw 1 today. A lone martin on the wire for about 5 minutes. Then he was gone. I am being over run by Grackles. They are trying to eat me out of bird seed. A faithful pair of cardinals tries to wait their turn at the feeder, the 1 fledgling they bring is so ugly…but cute. I chase the grackles away and that buys the cardinals a minute or two before the grackles return. The baby cardinal begs relentlessly at the feeder only centimeters away from seed. The male parent hulls the seed and stuffs it in his beak. So cute.
Mr. Roberts tells me that only a few dozen Martins are returning to the Davie roost.
I said I was going to video tape the roost and by GOD I did. I am a woman of my word.
8 or so Martins visiting on the housing. Seems like small family groups. I have noticed that the fledglings seem to enter the compartments whereas the adults will only peer in. I took down the barn and gave it a quick cleaning. I will give it a more intensive cleaning perhaps tomorrow. It was pretty thick with filth. Ah, the things we do for love.
I have been putting some thought into what this BLOG will cover during the “off” season. Some of my ideas are to cover a new Purple Martin topic every few days. Such as Starlings, sparrows, history of the martins and more. Sort of like a Purple Martin magazine or book in installments. Its an idea. If you have any topic ideas please let me know.
I know a lot of purple martin landlords are having problems this year with parasites and drought, so perhaps even BLOG entries on those issues.
Our weather has been very unstable. Beautiful in the AM hours then developing into violent thunderstorms with high winds in the late afternoon. Due to this I have been unable to visit the premigratory roost as yet. I am waiting for a favorable weather report to plan an outing to Davie as the roost is active for a few more weeks only.
On a Purplemartins-r-us update; I have been considering several ideas. One idea is changing our name to PurpleMartinArt vs PurpleMartins-R-us. It is a domain name I already own and would not disrupte or change the site in any way. Another idea is offering a limited selection on Swallow art and collectibles. Since Purple Martins ARE a type of swallow…Let me know what you think. I love hearing from all of you.
My 3 remaining nestlings are still in the nest and the mother is calling to them trying to lure them out. Feedings seem to have decreased. But then again, since there are only 3 in that nest and most of the other nests had 5 nestlings, I may be used to seeing them feed more often due to there being more mouths to feed. There is an abundance of dragonflies around. The visitors are still around daily during AM hours. Very quiet in the PM though. I only see the female and I have NOT seen her enter the gourd to sleep. She may be sleeping with the other martins at a nearby assembly site.
I am starting to think that for the titles on my blog, I should go for something more descriptive and eloquent than just the date…something like “6/17/08 The lonely mother” Sounds so much more dramatic! NO, Not me. I’m not lonely. Are you kidding. My kids are so far up my kiester… It’s the last female martin momma that is still feeding her babies. It seems like she is alone most of the time. Her male was here yesterday. I did not see him today at all. She has become very protective, even dive-bombing me on the pool deck. Either that or she really, really likes me! She is definitely ready for these babies to fledge. She spends alot of time away from the nest. Gone for hours at a time. But then she shows up with the babies chirping wildly. They know its her from a mile away.
It is so quiet. Only a short time of low activity this AM. Maybe 15 birds or so. I told my husband that I will be going to the roost on Friday. Got to see it.
To all the people that have signed my guestbook at purplemartins-r-us.com, I thank you. I got a ton of emails and questions from the article that came out in the local Newspaper. I wish all of you well and I will be in touch with you all again. My babies will need somewhere to nest in the coming years!
I did a nest check on the gourd rack today and it seems like my season is winding down. The last 14 fledgelings are still returning at sunset. But not all of them are sleeping in the housing. Right before the last birds turn in for the night a handful of birds fly to the north east. I presume to roost in trees. Several of the fledglings remain without their parents. I can tell because they are trying to sleep in a compartment that has nestlings and those parents are not too thrilled with the hitchhikers. Several beatings later they find other compartments to sleep in. There was one nest of 5 eggs that is due to hatch any-day and none have hatched yet. It is in the same gourd that had 6 abandoned eggs. I find it extremely unlikely that the gourd is cursed. No way that 2 different females in the same gourd were lost. So my new assumption is that the ASY male that has been protecting that gourd is sterile and his females are abandoning him. OK, I know that sounds a bit far fetched. Its either that OR I need to order some Holy water to take the Jinx off that gourd.
On another note. On this Memorial Day (As a former United States Army Reservist) I would like to extend a huge debt of gratitude to all the Active Duty, Reservist and Gaurdsmen who protect our Country now and in the past. I salute you and God Bless you!
What a crazy day!!! I DID get a nest check done though, 18 more fledged for a total to date of 34 Purple Martins added to the world! Very exciting. I had to remove one of the fledglings that had already fledged to its own nest as they keep invading a nest of younger birds to eat the food there mother brings for them. The little guy(gal?) promptly flew off. The drought is terrible though and I suspect that may have something to due with the youngsters parasitizing food from other nestlings. Very windy, smokey and the drought make for some very slim pickings. I placed more crushed egg shells and dried crickets in the platform feeder for the Martins. I have never seen them eat the dried crickets but they are fond of the egg shells. The recently fledged like to visit the feeder so they may actually eat some.
The sun broke over the horizon none too soon. Waiting till 9AM was the hardest part. I drove to the Folke Peterson Wildlife Center and Faith (their Veterinary Technician) brought Beau out to me. He was beautiful and looked so much more grown up. His little baby beak looked like that of an adult. The only way I could tell that he wasn’t, was his stumpy fledgling tail. Of course, the deep notch would develop during his maiden molt. I drove home with him very calm and quiet in the animal carrier. When I got him home, as soon as I took him out of the car, you could hear the Purple Martins chirruping in the back. He heard it too and called out with a big birds voice. My heart was racing. I am sure his was too. As I rounded the corner to the back yard he started to call out continuously which made all the Martins fly up and circle, as if they were looking about for the wayward fledgling. Eventually they settled back down on the housing and I sat the carrier within 30 or so feet of it. I removed the towels from the carrier so that he could see around. He patiently just sat there looking alternatively at me then at the other Martins perched on the housing. I wondered what goes through a little bird brain at a time like this. I didn’t want to torture him any further. I quickly opened the door and he sat on my finger only a moment before he flew off towards the housing. He veered off when all the other Martins flew up to meet him. He was greeted with a customary razing by the older birds. He darted, he turned, he gained altitude and he flew off to the south with 5 or so birds in hot pursuit. He came back to circle the housing a few times with a handful of Martins flying in circles along with him. No longer harassing, they all just flew about in their usual joyful, easy way. And my heart felt the same way. Light and free and happy. Little Beau…my prayers are for you to achieve the independence and skills you will need to be part of the circle of life. If your future includes returning to my site, all the more wonderful. Have fun in Brazil, little Beau!!!
