6th Nest Check - Hatching Continues

The 6th nest check of the ECMPMR colonies proved to be a rewarding one, as many of the eggs have hatched! The Memory Lake Colony now has 13 nests with young! The oldest nestings, found in the T-14, are 8 days old, and are expected to fledge on June 7th. Five other nests contain eggs. The Snake River Colony is much younger than the Memory Lake Colony; thus, the nests are a bit behind. Four of the nests contain young, while the other 11 still contain eggs. The earliest fledges from this colony are expected on July 13th. The Pokegama Lake Colony's six nests currently only contain eggs. The rather large ECE Colony has several large broods with six nestlings. There are currenty nine nests with young, four of which have six nestings! The other 16 nests contain eggs. The first fledges at the ECE Colony are expected on July 8th. The ECE Colony also has a few later nests, which are expected to fledge on August 8th! The Rush Lake Colony has one nest with six young, the other eight nests contain eggs.

Aging Nestlings

One of the components to be comming a successful landlord is keeping written records so you can learn as much about the very bird we are trying to help. One valuable piece of information you can obtain by checking nests is the actual age of a nestling, and the actual hatching date of that particular nestling. The age of a nestling can be determined by comparing the nesting with laminated nestling photos (available from the PMCA http://www.purplemartin.org/). This way, you can determine the actual hatching day and the earliest possible fledge date using the Purple Martini Prognosticator (also available from the PMCA) of that particular nest. If nestlings are missing from a nest before the earliest possible fledge date, those young have been unsuccessful. However, if young are missing from the nests AFTER the earliest fledge date, they likley fledged successfully.

y

Unsuccessful Hatch

This nestling was found beneath the T-14 at the Memory Lake Colony. It looks as though it hatch prematurely, died during the hatching process, and was removed from the nest by its parents.

Fifth Nest Check

Memory Lake Colony



Rush Lake Colony



Pokegama Lake Colony


The fifth nest check of ECMPMR colonies turned out to be a great one! The Memory Lake Colony now has 18 nests with eggs or young, this is up from 16 nesting attempts during the 2007 season. The Snake River has experienced substantial growth this year. There are currently 14 nests with eggs at the Snake River Colony, this is up from 3 nesting attempts last year. The Pokegama Lake Colony is doing wondefully for its first year, with six nests with eggs. The ECE Colony is currently the largest of the ECMPMR colonies, with 25 nests with eggs or young! The Rush Lake Colony is also doing wonderfully during its first year, with 7 nests with eggs. In total there are currently 70 nests with eggs or young!

Eggs Starting to Hatch

Purple Martin eggs in East Central Minnesota are starting to hatch! Five nests have begun hatching at the Memory Lake Colony and two of the nests at the ECE Colony have started hatching. At each of the colonies there are still pairs that have just started egg laying and some are still nest building!

ECMPMR Presentations

I have recently given several presentations about the ECMPMR project as well as how individuals can help the Purple Martin in their own backyard.

I spoke at the Audubon Center of the Northwood's 3rd Annual Birding Festival on June 7th. There were around 10 in attendance at my presentation. I also spoke at the Audubon Center to a group of Elderhostel participants. On June 14th I gave a presentation at Wild River State Park. There were several very interested individuals. Many of them will make great landlords! I hope to continue giving presentations to help educate the public about the great benefit of Purple Martins!

Fourth Nest Check - June 10, 2008

The fourth nest check started with some bad news. I was a bit devastated during my most recent nest check of the ECE and Rush Lake colonies. As I approached the housing at the ECE colony, I noticed SEVERAL cracked eggs below the housing! In total, out of the 19 nests containing eggs, 9 eggs were missing! However, there are still 19 nests with eggs and 5 nests with green leaves. The productivity of the colony will be down a bit because of the House Sparrows, but hopefully the hatch rate will be high. At the Rush Lake Colony, one of the firsts nest's eggs were all pecked! However, there are still 2 nests with eggs and 9 other nests with green leaves. I've already trapped two pairs of House Sparrows and there was no House Sparrow nests found in any of the compartments. In total, 12 eggs have been pecked by House Sparrows.

The Memory Lake Colony (Grantsburg, WI) has 22 nests, 17 of which have eggs. The Snake River Colony (Pine City, MN) has 14 nests, 9 of which have eggs. The Pokegama Lake Colony (Pine City, MN) has 11 nests, 2 of which have eggs. The ECE Colony (Braham, MN) has 24 nests, 19 of which have eggs. Finally, the Rush Lake Colony (Rush City, MN) has 9 nests, 2 of which have eggs. There are about 3 weeks left for nest building and egg laying. Some subbies (Second Year birds) are still busy building nests and bringing in green leaves (the picture shows a nest that is ready for its first eggs!), while others are already incubating their eggs.

Purple Martin Interpretive Signs - June 9, 2008

I have my first interpretive sign just about finished! The sign was printed at the Virigina State Parks Sign Shop. The PMCA's Purple Martin poster was enlarged and printed onto an aluminum sign. I made the display case.Plexi-glass covers the sign - hopefully this will help extend the life of the sign. I will have signs placed at four of the ECMPMR colonies: Snake River, Rush Lake, Memory Lake, and Plastech Corp.

Wave of SY Birds - June 1, 2008

Many new SY (second year - hatched last year) Purple Martins have recently returned to east central Minnesota. This handsome fella was attempting to lure a female to his chosen gourd at the Rush Lake Colony.
I just completed my third nest check of ECMPMR colonies - things are looking great! The Memory Lake Colony, now in its fifth year has 22 nests, 15 of which have eggs. The Snake River Colony activated last year with three pair, two of which were successful. This year, the colony has 11 nests, 3 with eggs. The Pokegama Lake Colony is in its first year and currently has 4 nests! The ECE Colony was established many years ago. This is the second year I have managed the colony. Last year it had 18 nests. This year it has 25 nests, 15 with eggs. The Rush Lake Colony is new this year. I'm very excited to report 10 nests, 2 with eggs. Unfortunately, the Plastech Corp. Site still has no martin activity. This housing may be moved to a more appropriate location for next year. In total, there are 72 nests started! Of course, not all of these will result in eggs. However, I expect some SY pairs still need to begin building nests. So, all-in-all, things are looking good in East Central MN!
House Sparrows continue to be a problem. One egg was pecked at the ECE Colony (presumed by a House Sparrow). I have also been actively trapping them (using insert traps in the Excluder Gourds) at the Memory Lake and ECE Colonies, where the House Sparrows are especially prevalent. I have seen little House Sparrow activity at the other colonies.