My 2010 season has officially started

[BumBee]

Hey John,
Terry gave me a chance to voice out (loudly) my thoughts in this journal. She thinks that
I have a lot to offer. I’ll try to prove that she right. She did not budge and stood her
ground on the “big bucks”, all I got was her blessings.

Yeah, lucky sparrow.

Today, with all of the home improvements we’ve done, I am more limited as to where
I can shoot those little buggers. It’s pretty much when they’re perch on the PM
housing. I have to keep my air rifle charged up to the max all of the time. I have to
keep the air rifle in top clean condition for I can not afford to miss.

This is another reason why I trap year round.

It is sad to see when those little guys jump out of their safe sanctuaries. I’ve had
a few jumpers during nest checks and one or two any other time. In the last three
to four years, I’ve taken photos during nest checks, it was easy to locate which room
the jumper came from. I think this is when your nest checks records can come in to
play.

I think a porch with a cage around it with the opening on top will stop the jumpers.
also you need more ventilation for each room. The more the merrier.

I have vent hole just below the gable and the entrance to each room is just half an
inch above the floor. Since heat rises, this scenario works very well for me. I also have
three different sizes for the entrances. First one is the tunnel entrance, second is the
famous SRE entrance, half moon shape except it is a little larger than the recommended
size, and third is a 3”x5” slot that can accommodate three to four PM young.

The larger openings give the parents a much easier passage in and out and the caged
porch gives the young ones room to explore and protection from avian predators.

Check out my caged porch
http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/r...House%20Porch/

[BumBee]

24FEB2010 – Clear Blue Skies – 50’sF
Yesterday was an overcast day. I did not see the sun all day. Today we went to
Galveston to see my wife’s vacationing sister. My son offered me to use his new
GPS. I’ve never ever used one before, so I took his offer. It was simple enough.
Turned it on, press menu and entered destination. So we took off, and I went about
the way I know how to go to Galveston TX. This machine was directing to go to
the major highways (freeways). I made a right turn in which this machine was
directing me to turn left. After I made the right turn, it immediately directed me to
make a U-turn at every intersection I was approaching. Eventually my wife started
to argue with me too. To tell the story short, I argued with two GPS’s one mounted
on the windshield and one sitting in the passengers seat until we got to Galveston.

This afternoon I enjoyed watching the PMs circling above my site, and I noticed
that there were only four of them instead of six, three males and one female. I have
no idea what is going on here. Have they been eaten by a predator or have they
decided to stay at another place.

Only time will tell.

[BumBee]

05March2007 – Partly Cloudy – 60’sF
I finally got a good count of the PM’s that spending the night at my site. I was
A little surprise to see all of them flying in circle over my site when the sun was
gone. There was some daylight left but not much. I have never seen all ten of
them disappeared into my PM housing in a flash. From about twenty five yards
up, then all of them folded their wings and straight down they came.

Last week I had a chance to take a couple of photos and here they are. What a
fantastic sight, blue skies, martins and fity plus degrees temperature.

http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/r...ee2/PM%202010/

[John Pearson]

Hey Thomas,
Sounds like your season is well underway. I saw my first and only male last thursday, March 4th but he hasn't been back. My S&S controller is hard at work though and the starlings are dropping like flies. I'm up to 21 compartments now so I'm anxious to see how many pairs I get this year.

Interesting to hear your story about them dive bombing into the houses. I see that from time to time too. Sometimes it's a predator but a lot of times there dosen't appear to be anything. That's why I sometimes smile when landlords say that they cannot use SREH entrances because the birds don't fit. When you watch them drop from the sky and thread the needle at blazing speeds you know these birds are often better than we give them credit.

Great pic's-Still kinda quiet in DFW,
John

[BumBee]

I am still at 12 rooms. I recently have been given more time at home and have put that time into
re-organizing my garage and my new little shop. My container garden will be in menu once the
weather warms up a little more. My air rifle is on the blink so I cannot drop any sparrow or
starling for now. I am totally reliant on my traps and so far it has only produced two starlings.
I think because of the SRE, trapping and shooting year round helped me a lot.
This year I stopped the bird feeder last December and empty the holding sparrow cage for an
experiment. The sparrow and starling traffic at my back yard is almost zero.
Good luck to you, stay in touch.

[BumBee]

01MAY2010 – cloudy/muggy 77 F
Yesterday I noticed something white on the porch of room 10, so I lowered the PM housing and
found an egg with blood stains on it. I also saw two lines made of blood on the floor of my tunnel
SRE. It looked like it was drawn in for they were perfectly straight, centered and parallel to the side
and to each other. I opened the room to look inside to see that the other five eggs were covered
with blood also. I replaced the egg back and raised the PM housing.
I went to my blind and took my air rifle and cranked the scope to 12 on its zoom power. I did not have
to wait long and the male PM landed on the porch cage. A few minutes later the female landed on the
porch cage and went straight in. It took a few more minutes in order for me to see where the blood
came from. The left leg of the male PM had blood on it. When the female PM came out, it was clean.
I think the egg was not on the porch long enough to get damaged. One good thing was it was an
overcast and cool day yesterday.
If my housing did not have the caged porch, that egg would have been on the ground.

[John Pearson]

Thomas,

What do you think happened? your male was obviously in a little scrap but with a hawk or a Starling? Can he still use the leg or is it out of commission?

John

[BumBee]

John,
I have no clue as to what happened to the male PM. It could be a lot just like you’ve mentioned. There
Are a few cats owners in my neighborhood and they turn them loose. The PMs are still bringing in leaves
in to their nests and it could be one of those cats almost got that PM.
The leg is fully functioning as far as I can see.

[Terry Suchma]

Thomas,

Since your house is caged, could the bird been injured on the hardware cloth --in a fight with another male?

Terry

[Thomas Bumby]

Terry,
I think it could have been from a fight with a sub adult. I know that the injury did not come
from the hardware cloth (as you put it). The screen mesh is made of plastic that used to
cover gutters with. It may have been from an edge of the aluminum on the porch.

I have seen them clutched together in a fight but never injured.