** Let's start 2007 with another great year for Purple Martins ** Well, it's Friday and my mind is well into gear with a couple dozen different development projects at the pondsite. How best to dodge the weather, what to work on first, get Sunil and Burger off my back by gettin' the fish stuff stocked...you know, settin' project priorities.
-
-
When we finished last year's Purple Martin cycle, as we do every year, we take down the gourd rack and the telescopic pole and put it all into winter storage. All that remains in the middle of our backyard is the 4' tall base pipe that is cemented into the ground. I slip a short pc of PVC pipe with a PVC cap over this base pipe to keep rain and snow out and fuggedaboutit. So, as noted above, I'm goin' thru my A.M. routine, my mind blazing about the work day ahead and the pond projects that lie just beyond. As I walk past the kitchen window, something slightly different in the backyard catches the corner of my vision. There's an adult PM standing directly on top of that PVC pipe cap, preening a little and doin' one of those "hey, what the heck...where's the summer home?" It is, no doubt, a scout. And strangely, I just checked the
PM Scout report last night for the first time this year, figgerin' that I better try to put up the rack and gourds this weekend.
-
-
Now, to many of you, this might evoke very little reaction, let alone interest. That's OK; it's likely a little more spiritual for D-ski and me. You see, where we live PM's are somewhat difficult to attract, let alone successfully propagate. We have been working on this now, I believe this is our 9th year. Last year was the first year that we actually witnessed the young'uns make it out and successfully fledge. It didn't match the incubation period per historical averages (missed by about 5 days), but I attribute that to a combo of bad records on our part and the possibility of an early fledge. We watched the adults feed the fledglings outside the nest on the power line next to the house. We never got this far before...to us, this took 8 years to achieve. 3 teeny PM's...it's just a cool feeling to think that we had even a little bit to do with it. Then, after a long winter absence, for the first time in 9 years it seems that they now wait on us...not us on them.
-
Needless to say, when I got home from work...up goes the gourds. Here's to hopin' for another successful PM season.
