The past week has been a emotional rollercoaster going from...

Delight - at the arrival of a few Purple Martins on the April 25th, to...

Depression - cold wind and rain followed by 3-5" of snow the next couple of days, to...

Absolute Amazement today - when I saw no less than 18 Purple Martins zooming around my site, leaving all day to feed, and then putting on "The Greatest Show on Earth" when they came in to roost about 7:30 p.m.

I knew there were a few birds in the snow-covered gourds during the past couple of days. The highs were in the low 30s. I didn't see them, but I knew they were there.

I was so thankfull they were hunkered down in the cedar shavings, as warm as possible (out of the wind, rain and snow anyway), and conserving their energy.

Purple Martins eat only flying insects. They feed and drink "on the wing." It it's too rainy, cold, windy, snowy, for insects to be flying about, the PMs don't eat. Sometimes they starve to death in the early spring.

The sun popped out today; the high was in the 50s, and more PMs came in after feeding all afternoon. While they were out I lowered the rack, hung a couple more gourds, and checked that all the pre-nests were dry and fluffed. Everything looked fine, and no dead birds.

This evening I brewed a pot of tea and sat near the front window to see how many would come in to roost. I was amazed. I counted 18 PMs, all in a loose formation, zooming around the pole, flying off as high as possible, swooping down again, and then soaring into the gourds.

Pandemonium broke out. In addition to the 18 flying birds, there were some martins already in the gourds and they did not want company. There were arguments, and screeches, and a couple knock-you-to-the-ground battles before everyone was happy with the sleeping arrangements.

A few of the gourds have "pairs" in them; I know some are my veterans. Some have singles waiting for mates. The eight gourds on the top tier are filled; I know two of the four gourds on the bottom tier have pairs. I saw three SY females and at least four ASY females.

I have to get my last two natural gourds painted and hung.