PMs gathering nesting materials

After several days of wind, rain, and cold the Purple Martins got a sunny break this morning. They had gotten out to hunt every afternoon during the cold wet spell, but they were miserable.

I still can't decide how many I have, but there are at least four pairs, maybe seven. (Yes, I can count, LOL, but they're still playing musical partners and musical gourds.)

This morning, at least four females were gathering dried grasses from the neighbor's yard and carrying them into gourds. Everyone was eating the gravel and crushed eggshells I've put on the edges of our driveways for them.

The house next-door has been vacant for over a year. They have a short driveway made of "pea gravel" about 30' from my driveway. The house and yard is kept up neatly, and it's very quiet. The birds love poking around in that yard and driveway. My driveway is asphalt and not nearly as exciting, nor as pretty.

A pair of tree swallows has claimed the nearby by BB box we put up a few days ago. They're playing nicely with the martins and everyone was eating eggshells together.

PMs intruding on the TSs

A pair of Purple Martins were fighting with the Tree Swallows over the TS nestbox this morning. The battle lasted several rounds before (1) the PMs realized they couldn't get inside the smaller entry hole, and (2) the TSs forcefully sent the PMs back to their gourds. This is highly unusual as it's normally the TSs that try to take over PM housing.

The "Stokes" BB nest box is set 40' from the gourd rack. It's attached to a 5' tall metal post and backs up to within about 4' of the neighbor's 1910-era doll-house-cute garage. I have empty gourds on the rack for the PMs; there's nothing about the TS box that should appeal to the martins. But appeal it does.

The garage sits over about 2' onto our property. Since we didn't complain when the survey showed this 100-year-old discrepancy, the owners don't care if I attach things to the garage's side or plant flowers against it.

Confused Chickadees

The pair of chickadees are ignoring their "perfect" nesting box in a white spruce tree, and are still investigating one of the two bluebird boxes set up on a decorative post, in a flower pot, 10' from my front room window.

A hummingbird feeder hangs on the same short post as the BB boxes. The numerous orioles and hummingbirds constantly feeding two feet away from the nest box opening doesn't seem to be discouraging the chickadees.

(I've been swarmed with even more orioles, Baltimore and Orchard. I had at least three on each of the three nectar feeders all day long yesterday; they were lined up for the jelly feeder and swarming the suet cage.)

My neighbor to the north has a row of four huge white spruce trees about 30' from the spruce tree in my yard. Since I have several bird feeders hung from my low-branched tree, and since they've trimmed the branches much higher up on theirs and don't put out feeders, they let me attach a chickadee box on their tree. It's an idea spot for them.

But noooooo, they like the nest box on a post, right next to the tree full of bird feeders, and swamped with orioles right on their doorstep.

It will be interesting to see if they actually make a nest here.


~ I'm in birdie paradise...even if it was 49 degrees when I got up yesterday and I couldn't set out my plants because of all the rain.