Glenda...it's my therapy! I love all the native birds, and the cavity nesters (Purple Martins, Tree Swallows, Woodpeckers, Bluebirds, Chickadees, Nuthatches, etc.) most especially. The PMs eat only flying insects. They have beautiful songs and calls. They are always on the wing. They are so sweet and gentle and nest only near humans. They have "imprinted" on humans since before the time of Columbus. He discovered native American villages up and down the eastern coast with long poles hung with gourds around the areas. Insect control, beautiful birds and beautiful song. Socks...Yes, I'm registered with the Purple Martin Conservation Association. They track "landlords" submitted information on arrivals, dates, eggs, fledges, departures, etc., and the migration back to Brazil. They actually use doppler radar to check the early and late migrations, too. For a native bird that was brought almost to the point of extinction to now have a migration mass large enough to track is wonderful. I also belong to three other private Purple Martin forums that collect data and share information. OakleyOK...I've never had a problem with wasps in my gourds. Of course, my gourds are kept taken down, cleaned, and stored in the basement as soon as the chicks leave, usually around Aug. 1. I set the colony up again around April 15. I keep duct tape over the gourds' entry holes until the PMs actually arrive. That keeps the non-native vermin, such as starlings and English House Sparrows out.

Oh yes! Photos will be showing up soon. Some of them will look like this! LOL This photo is from 2012; I already had eggs hatching on June 15 of that year. The eggs I have now won't hatch until about July 7.

That's great to hear! Control the non-native EHSs and you'll get Blue Birds, or Tree Swallows, or Chickadees, or Nuthatches, or...any of the other native cavity-nesting lovelies. Did you know EUHSs are the main culprit in the near extinction of the native BBs and Purple Martins? Thanks to good "landlords," they're slowly coming back. My friend has had a pair of BBs raise three clutches a season for the past three years in her small suburban back yard in Delaware. The poor blue birds are desperate for housing. She didn't think she'd attract even one pair. I had more confidence in her birding skills and wasn't the least bit surprised at her successful fledge rates! LOL Each year she has at least two pairs of BBs and one pair of Tree Swallows. This year she also discovered nesting robins, cardinals, and house finches on her little property! She's planted the shrubs and areas these birds love. She added fresh water that's always available and she's in the bird business. I've had "fly by" attacks of bluebirds the past four springs. They zoom by my houses (set up in "perfect" BB habitat, LOL, with water, supplelmental treats, and not an EHSs in sight, and they still haven't built a nest. This year they did actually land on the box, so I'm considering that a step in the right direction. I'll keep trying; in fact DH set up another house for me in our neighbors' empty field/yard. (With their blessings, of course!) I do have nesting tree swallows and a pair of chickadees are seriously considering one of the nest boxes in the front yard.

Hi Jannie. I do appreciate the concern, but these gourds are hung from a 14 ft. tall, round steel pole. I've never had a cat even attempt it. LOL If a cat did manage to get up there, I think I'd have to give him a can of sardines as a reward the effort! Most of my gourds, (and soon all of them) have 3" PVC tunnel entrances. Cats, owls, hawks, etc. are deterred by these tunnels. They could reach in, but they couldn't move their legs/paws/claws downward and back far enough to reach the nest cups. The photo below was taken looking in through the open access port and toward the back of the entrance tunnel.