Continuing blog

I got very busy during the NCAA Basketball Tourney that I neglected my blog. Not that anyone reads it, but it's good therapy for me. I can say what I want about anything I want.

Conley II's a Hit!

The Conley II's seem to be easily negotiated by martins, so easily that I am doing away with the few round holes I was planning. This will be the first year I have been 100% SREH.

Home, sweet home!

Yes, 7-9 days later than average, but martins are back home in central Kentucky.

Set-up complete

Here's the 2010 set-up for my colony. There are five Super System 24's, with four of them modified to hold 32 gourds. There are also three Premium 24 racks. There are a total of 224 gourds broke down like this:

64 Troyer Horizontals with Conley 2 Tunnels.
64 Troyer Verticals with Conley 2 tunnels.
63 Natural Gourds with Conley 2 Tunnels
11 Super Gourds modified with Conley 2 Tunnels.
11 Super Gourds with crescent entries and metal porches.
9 Super Gourds with round holes.
2 Excluder Gourds with Conley WDC entries.
4 Nite Guard lights on CUE Light Holder

I also have two perching rod poles, and a Deluxe 12 gourd rack modified into a 'bed & breakfast'.

Colony update

The work on the colony is basically finished, offering eight racks with a total of 224 gourds. I will post multiple photos of the complete site very soon, maybe today. I want to get some photos while the sun is out.

No martins have returned yet, but there some reports nearby. Tree swallows were observed today, so spring is here.

I also have exchanged nice emails with Louise Chambers of the PMCA. We have come to a resolution and I don't plan on airing any more grievances about the PMCA. I have conceded the argument and I am trying to see issues from both sides. I have taken the steps in proving my sincerity, and even became a member of the PMCA on a "Benefactor" level. We shall see if the PMCA will cross their half of the bridge and meet me in the middle and not leave me dangling in the wind. Time will tell. If they do, I look forward to a life long relationship. I have felt sort of exiled as I have lost touch with so many people. I realize now I was achieving nothing with my actions.

We are getting closer and hopefully that first ASY will return today!

Swarming martins

Last summer I was busy watching a baseball game on TV and wasn't paying attention to the weather. Right at dusk I heard the weather alarm going off on my PC alerting me of an oncoming severe thunderstorm.

I darted to the door to take a look outside and see if it was too late to lower my racks. Wow, it was a tough call, as my martins had already went into their gourds for the night, and it was almost dark and it would take me at least 7-8 minutes to lower them all. But I decided to do it.

When lowering the racks, my entire colony of martins left their gourds and were circling above waiting on me to finish. Once I did finish, I ran to the house to get out of the martins way so they could reenter their gourds. My entire colony of matins were flying in one swarm, seeming to following the leader. They kept making sweeps to the gourd racks getting closer with each swoop. I was getting nervous as I could barely see them. They darkened the sky around the racks when making their passes.

The huge swarm of martins moving as in one body started to slow in their passes as if to land, but it only took one or two martins to fly away and the entire swarm flew with them. Finally the huge dark swarm of martins swooped down and entered their gourds almost in one movement, appearing as if the swarm had merged with the gourd racks.

Wow, my nervousness subsided and I swore to myself that this would never happen again. I needed to pay better attention to the weather.

Starling vs Conley 2

Please excuse this bad photo, it was snapped through my patio door some distance from the site.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked outside this morning and saw a bird enter one of my natural gourds with a Conley 2 entry & tunnel. I thought to myself, I may have my first scout returning.

But when I observed it leaving the gourd, I was dismayed that it was a starling that was squeezing in and out of the entry. I took a photo through my sliding patio door, and it's not of good quality.

I have many starlings checking out my site the past couple of weeks, and this is the first observation I have made that a starling has made it through a Conley 2. I am sure this is not the norm and I'll trap it today. But for some people who are wary of SREH's, if a small starling can get through, certainly a martin can.