North Tx Egg & Babies

[JSTAMPLEY]

I have 8 pair with 41 eggs. I did a nest check today and had 11 hatchlings. how is everybody else doing in the club? I have one more pair of sy's that haven't laid eggs as of yet, still hoping ha

[Robert Mohler]

Hey that is wonderful. We also have eight pair and on our last nest check we had six hatchlings and thirty-seven eggs. We will do our regular weekly nest check tomorrow and expect we will find more eggs and hatchlings.

[John Pearson]

Hey Jimmy,
I remember a few years back when you had one pair and the male was so ornery he'd chase off any other martins that were looking at your colony. Ha-ha.

I also have 8 nests this year which is a record for me. I have 36 eggs so far but I'm expecting more because one SY nest hasn't begun laying eggs yet. I may not be seeing all the eggs with my compact mirror- stop your snickering Robert-ha!

I have 2 SY pairs which I'm happy about too. I bought some horizontal gourds this year and they were the first to go so I'm thinking of outfitting my super gourds with tunnels for next year- the birds seem to like the depth in gourds. On the house side all my birds are in compartments that have an entrance compartment then a 90 degree turn into the nest compartment (they were 6X6's that i converted). The birds seem to prefer those to the house compartments that go straight back. It's shaping up to be a banner year for me and the weather we're having seems to be helping too. Congratulations Jimmy and Robert- see ya,

John

[Robert Mohler]

Jimmy & John, you guys are doing great this year and we send a huge congratulations to you both. Although we do not have as many pair this year as last, we see larger clutches. Our weekly nest check yesterday yielded 22 hatchlings and 21 eggs. Since we reduced the compartment numbers in the TM-12 down to six and now have them enter an empty compartment and then go into the side compartment we've noticed no mud dams this year. They really seem to enjoy the pine straw that we placed in the nest for them. Less work for them I suppose so they could get right down to business to laying their eggs. Continue to keep us updated here we enjoy reading everyones input. By the way, has anyone heard from Kenny Crawford? He was not at our last meeting and he has not answered any of my emails. That is very unusal. Hope all is OK with him.

[JSTAMPLEY]

I'm doing nest checks about every 2 days now. I have 28 eggs & 15 hatchlings as of today. I have 9 pair with eggs now my last sy pair has 5 eggs. But the strange thing is I am missing a couple of eggs that I have counted in some of my other nests. Oh well, as we have all said this is by far our best year, and we are enjoying it to the fullest. Most of what I see going in my nests are small butterflies that is the insects that I can see being feed. But they may not be big enough for dragonflies yet. ha I have another nest that should hatch tommorrow. I will keep you posted. My brother in Louisiana has 10 of 10 gourds full with around 50 eggs and hatchlings combined. His best also.

[Jennifer - TX]

My ASY pair (my first martin pair ever!) have four babies and one egg still to hatch.

The first one was schedule to hatch yesterday, but I didn't see anything while watching the nest camera. The female was moving around a lot and I could tell that something was different. When I came home at lunch today, I noticed that the leaves were moving on their own. I knew what that meant!!

In the picture you can see one baby clearly and the little wing of the second one right below it. Tonight there are four babies and one egg.

[Robert Mohler]

Jim and Jennifer, we are so happy for you both. Were dancing or the younger generation may call it jumping around.:grin: