What a treat! Thanks for sharing. I read such a discouraging article in the Chicago Tribune last week. It was about a bird tagging location near the Illinois/Wisconsin border that has been functioning for forty years. At first I thought the article said the number of birds had declined by ten to twenty percent, then...no, the number has declined TO ten to twenty percent of the migrating birds. They blame pollution and the declining habitat along migration routes. One of the tiny birds photographed had been recorded on migration from Northern Canada to South America. Our bird population has never come back more than a few percent from the die-off during avian flu a few years ago. I almost never see a crow or blue jay -- who thought I'd miss *them*?

Indulge me folks; this one's going to be long. I'm going to answer the questions 'cause I just luuuuve talking about my Purple Martins. I love all birds, of course, but these guys are my main focus for the couple of months they're here. SheilaJoyce ~ There is a double pulley system on top of the 14' tall pole. The white rope runs around one pulley and attaches to the top of the lead weights inside the pole. The rope also runs inside the hub (the square black/white box that holds all the arms) and down to the ground. (It's called the EZ Lift system; you can email me for more info.) When the rack (hub plus arms) is "up" I can pull on the white rope (without much force) and the rack glides down the pole until the gourds are at my chest level. I can then check and maintain the nests without risking harm to the eggs or chicks and without have to use a step ladder. Pulling on the black rope raises the hub back to the pole top and adjusts the orientation of the gourds. They have to always be pointing the same direction. Decoys are used when trying to lure in a PMs to a new site. I have several but I only had to use them the first season here. People can check the PMCA site to learn when the martins' migration is expected in their area. Prepare the houses/gourds, etc. and set out the decoys before that date. I also play a CD of PM "Daytime Chatter." It makes the site look and sound occupied to overhead PMs. Sometimes they're so far away and/or so high you might now see/hear them, but they'll see/hear the site. People attract colonies all the time without decoys but it just gives you that little edge. I've loaned my CD and decoys out to three newbie "landlords" to help them start their colonies. I left this one decoy up to help confuse the hawks. Hawks are a native bird, also protected by the migratory bird laws, but they can wreck havoc on a colony. Many times, if a site it attacked by hawks, and they lose many chicks, the PMs will not return to that site the next year. PMs also leave the colony for hours at a time to hunt their flying insects. That's when the chicks are in the most danger from hawk attacks. I've seen a sharp-shinned hawk attack the decoy. Slammed right into it, knocked himself sideways, and then flew off to a tree. After smoothing out his feathers, and his pride, he left for feathery pastures. He now thinks the birds at this site are indestructible. The decoy survived! LOL McMann Aren't all the native birds wonderful! You don't have to do anything to enjoy them. Putting out seed, or suet, or nectar, is a great way to lure them in for easier viewing. Offering a birdbath that is kept filled with clean fresh water is another very low stress way to help the birds, and little critters, and bring them in closer so you can hear and see them. I've lived in places where all I could offer the birds was water. Even then I had more varieties around me than I could have imagined. I became interested in the Purple Martins, and Blue Birds, when I was reading about how close they came to extinction. The blue birds even more so than the Purple Martins. Both species have suffered loss of habitat and predation by the two non-native birds that are increasing to the point of wiping out the native cavity nesters...that would be the European Starling and European House Sparrow. I've been blessed with good luck with the PMs. Except for my first season (2003) I've had large clutches of eggs and a nearly a 100% fledge rate. (A bird is a successful fledge once it survives to the right age to leave the nest, and does so, under it's own power.) I learned about the PMCA and started reading, and studying, and saving my money to purchase a gourd rack. I joined two private PM forums filled with experienced landlords that offer so much encouragement and decades of experience of what does, and doesn't, work. Like me, they're all striving for larger percentages of fledged PMs. I've also put up blue bird houses, but they're "trickier" than the PMs, at least for me. I'm still trying; one of my friends joined in the BB quest. She now hosts two or three pairs, who raise two and three clutches, every year. And she lives in a 300 home suburb with a tiny yard! I'm so proud of her. She does have the houses in the right sites; she controls EUST and EUHS, and offers water for the BBs. Leslie I love your site, and aren't your pinkies a beautiful sight! I love the photos you sent, too! There are two camps in the PM world, LOL. Those that do use Sevin, and those that don't. I use it. I use it at least three time in the season and then again if I see even one mite. It's all a numbers game. Get the adults healthy and safe and let them produce every egg and raise every chick that's possible. Mites kill birds. They weaken the adults so they can't hunt as efficiently to feed the chicks. They cause anemia and blood loss to the chicks. They cause chicks to jump out of the nest before they can fly. They kill chicks. So, when I make the pre-nests, before the martins arrive, I sprinkle a scant teaspoon of Sevin on top of each nest. The new birds arrive, go in the gourd, scuttle around, and any mites they picked up along the route are dead. I do a nest change when the chicks are around 10 days old and again when they are 18 days old. (Don't open a nest after the oldest chick reaches Day 18 though or you may cause premature fledging. The chicks will most likely die.) Take out the chicks, remove all the old nasty nests, add new cedar shavings, mix in a teaspoon of Sevin, ( I mix this in good so the chicks aren't in just one concentrated area of Sevin) replace the chicks and raise the gourds. No, this doesn't bother the adults at all. Some of them sit on the perching arms, a couple feet from my head while I do it. Others zoom around and "flog" me. They have imprinted on humans since before the time of Columbus when the east coast native Americans set gourds up on poles around their camps and villages to attract the birds. I've had females that won't leave the gourd even when I'm checking the nests and counting eggs/chicks. Since you're using box type houses, and probably don't have the volume of nesting material I use, I'd say 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of Sevin would do the trick. It's up to you. I've had mites in only one gourd for the all the time I'm managed the PMs. When mites get in one gourd, they can't move out and along the metal arms to the next gourd. In most houses, they can crawl from nest to nest quickly and easily. It's very important to keep a close eye out for mites if you're offering apartment type housing. If you don't want to use Sevin you should still do the nest changes. This gets rid of most of the mites. You might want to do nest changes more often if you're not using Sevin. Granlan Thanks; you're kind. This has been the Little House of Horrors and The Money Pit combined. If we're ever finished, and if my health improves, I'm hoping for "cute" and "serviceable." I'm learning a lot as we slowly muddle through all the fixes. The front of the house, and the front yard, are totally flat and boring. The house borders on "ugly." Heck, it might be firmly imbedded there. But it does host my PMs and scores of other birds in the feeder tree. I am thankful to have a place to live and enjoy my birding. Connie I know they're in your area. I'm in touch with PM "Landlords" all over the country. I'll try to locate some closer to you if you want to check out their sites. Most of us are so happy to show our birds off to others. I meet people all PM season long, looking at and asking questions about the gourds and birds. MaryAnnTX Texas is a PM Paradise. Your birds will arrive, nest, fledge, and start the migration back to Brazil before my eggs have hatched. I find it amazing. Someone told me the PMs seem to be a lot of "work." They're really not, and it is a labor of love. I do remove, empty, and clean, and store all the gourds in September, after the last of the Canadian PMs migrate through. I want them to see my site, too! I have to make the pre-nests and rehang them in April. That's the two biggest chores. I do two or three at a time, as time and health permit. I do a daily walk-around, checking the ground under the gourds for any signs of hawk or owl attacks. I also fill my feeders and bird bath while the colony is "in" so they get use to seeing me. Nest checks take less than 30 seconds per gourd; nest changes take a couple minutes, tops, per gourd. The rest of the time is just enjoying, watching, listening, observing.

How exciting, caroline! When I'm lucky enough to see the actual fledging of baby bluebirds here, I'm sure angels are singing. Everything has been later than usual here this season. It stayed cool much later than usual and the summer hasn't been as hot as it usually is. Suits me, though, I'm not complaining!

Always a treat to hear about your 'babies', Caroline. We're on round three of Cardinals -- if the young ones a-courtin' now lay eggs. We have mature arbor vitae around two sides of our lot -- and some privit that they seem to favor. I was drawn to the creek last week by calling between a pair of (I think?) Flickers and their four 'kids'. (Whistling cries; spotted breasts; red 'gorgets' on their necks.) They were searching for insects on tree trunks -- and probably finding plenty of emerald ash borers. We have some big tree removal bills coming up!