purple martins

[carpetman]

Haven't been able to get an accurate count on the purple martins,but it's over 30 and seems there are still some arriving. Like to hear numbers and arrivals in other parts.

[PPlinker]

Wow, 30 martins! I can't even imagine how nice that'd be to watch and listen to them. You're doin great.

Had some martins fly around here briefly, but that was two or three weeks ago. There's a pair of swallows taking up residence. Other day i reached for the air rifle 'cause i saw an E. Sparrow light on the box. One of those resident swallows dive bombed the sparrow and it got out of there fast. They might be keeping the martins from away too...don't know.

You are lucky to have martins, though. Enjoy.

Penny

[carpetman]

Checked some of the martin nests late yesterday afternoon. Had wide range of activities. Most are still building nests. But had one compartment with babies. Had one with one egg and one with 5 and one with a whopping 7 eggs. Typically they lay 3-7 eggs with 5 being the norm.

[Scrounger]

Here's a couple of pics of CarpetMan's beloved Purple Martins. Now we all really know those are cleverly disguised cat traps and the birds are serving as bait...
http://photos.gunloads.com/images/Scrounger/imgp0230.jpg

http://photos.gunloads.com/images/Scrounger/imgp0220.jpg

[carpetman]

Thanks for posting the pictures Scrounger. Actually,they aren't cat traps in disguise. I use metal poles and hope a cat cant climb them. But they can all be instantly turned into a sparrow trap if they start nesting in a compartment. The perches have two purposes. Mainly they are for the martins---but sparrows and starlings that happen to light there sure are presented well for a target. When perched on the wires they are good targets. Got a sparrow and a starling while I was out there taking the pictures. Not in the pic is my cat trap and two sparrow traps. Havent caught any cats since Saturday night.

[Scrounger]

"Havent caught any cats since Saturday night"
Yeah, Bwana Simba strikes again...

[NVcurmudgeon]

Shot three starlings off my front lawn Saturday morning with Super Kolibri .22LR (20 gr.@ 500fps.) All you can hear is a small clanking sound that doesn't spook the neighbors. Within 50 feet those pipsqueak .22s are deadly, beyond that distance they shoot about modified choke patterns. The Sheridan pellet gun is now retired-too noisy! Haven't seen a starling since, guess those are pretty smart birds.

[carpetman]

NVCurmudgeon---Do you have peep sight on your Sheridan? If not,bet you would really like it. If your Sheridan is a newer model,it will be drilled and tapped on the right side. Older ones you have to have done. There is a plate on the left--but that aint it. Jumptrap had the newer style and wasnt pleased with it. Could see the pellet even at 8 pumps. With my old relics I dont see them at 4 pumps.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Carpetman, My Sheridan is about six years old and has a couple of holes for peep sight mounting. I still use the open sight with my pistol shooting glasses and accuracy is not a problem. I took out three crows in CA with it at 20-25 yd. It is just that it makes a real racket when fired, my wiife says it souds like the world's biggest screen door spring. The .22, OTOH, is nearly silent with those powderless Super Kolibri rounds. Accuracy is not much of a challenge either, as it is a CZ 427 with a genuine El Paso Weaver T-6 scope. One of the best tricks with a Sheridan is using it for a black widow exrerminator. Give it a few pumps, NO PELLET, gently move the muzzle within an inch or so of Mrs. BW, and splatter her with compressed air. (Thanks to Nevada Duke for this tip.)

[carpetman]

NVcurmudgeon---I get a lot of wasps around here and had thought about using my Sheridan with no pellet. I'm not sure if prolonged doing that would hurt the gun or not?? I know it's not good for spring air guns(which the Sheridan is not a spring air). Even though your accuracy is good,I bet it would get better with the peep sight. The Williams peep is about $35 (can be found for a little less). I don't remember the aperture sizes,but thethey make a smaller one than the standard one that it comes with. I like the smallest one. Try it,you'll like it. I do have a RWS spring air (that I bought from Buckshot) and it is even louder than the Sheridan. I have Leupold scope on it,and it is accurate. But the old Sheridan is right there with it in accuracy. When I have a pest bird to dispatch,never know which one I will grab. Taking out a crow would be a heck of a feat. I have taken out some grackles and have had a lot fly off too.

[carpetman]

Come to find out the baby martins I thought I had were starlings. They have been taken care of. First year Ive had starlings nest in my martin houses--guess I have been lucky.

[carpetman]

NVCrumudgeon---I tried my Sheridan on wasp nests--air no pellet. Bad idea. I didnt get stung but one wasp is all you get,it will sometimes knock the nest down though.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Carpetman, Yes killing a crow with a Sheridan is a feat if you hit them from the side and break a wing. Of course, in a feline-rich environment like my old CA neighborhood the cripples will be retreived. (Cats can be useful.) OTOH, a frontal chest shot is meat in the pot. Dunno if shooting the Sheridan without a pellet does any harm, but having used it for a total of two black widows in three years seems like a minimal risk. I don't think I would take on a wasp with a Sheridan because they tend to run in bunches. It might be OK if you had a matched pair of Sheridans with a loader/pumper to hand you the spare, just like an Englishman shooting driven grouse in Scotland!

[slughammer]

NVCrumudgeon---I tried my Sheridan on wasp nests--air no pellet. Bad idea. I didnt get stung but one wasp is all you get,it will sometimes knock the nest down though.

One of my motor head buddies passed on a comical story a few years back, seems that carb cleaner is pretty effective against the NEST. Just kind of melts the glue that holds them together.

I'm more likely to have a 99 cent can of carb cleaner around when I need it (right away) and the stuff is cheap enough you can buy one for each hand.

[wmitty]

carb cleaner is indeed effective, but foaming engine degreaser is even better!

[wills]

NVcurmudgeon---I get a lot of wasps around here and had thought about using my Sheridan with no pellet. I'm not sure if prolonged doing that would hurt the gun or not?? I know it's not good for .

What you have is likely yellowjackets. Now you bein’ new in town may not know the approved San Angelo method of eliminating yellowjackets is to tie a bunch of rags onto a stick, soak the rags in gasoline, set fire to them and roast the yellowjacket nest. This ought to be done gingerly if the nest is under the eves of the house.

On the other hand I recently learned yellowjackets kill webworms and therefore ought not be bothered unless absolutely necessary.

[carpetman]

Ok this time I sure nuff have some baby martins---last time was starlings---this time its martins for sure.

[carpetman]

This year has been my best martin crop ever. I have over 100 baby martins. There are a few nests that still have eggs while many of the babies are about ready to fly. Never got an accurate count on how many adult pairs I got this year.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Ray, I won't claim a confirmed Purple Martin sighting yet, but there is an all dark swallow-like bird flying low, fast, and straight in the mornings here. For sure we have a lot of Barn Swalllows. They are hard to miss, being very colorful and the only swallow with a forked swalow tail.

[carpetman]

NVCurmudgeon---Bill,I don't think Nv has purple martins. Go to www.purplemartin.org and it has a lot of info about them to include a map showing their range. Nv doesnt show to have them,might be a case where there are limited numbers?????? They are members,in fact the largest member of the swallow family. I did see swallows in Canada in areas where the map shows to have no martins.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Ray, No doubt a misidentification by a blind old man, though I did see a smalll purple dot on the map on the PM website, apparently at Lake Tahoe. Tahoe is just a hoot and a holler from here. Whatever those little birds are, they're sure fast. I'll keep looking.

[carpetman]

In the past,Ive had a few young purple martins get on the ground that weren't old enough to fly. I have placed them back in the nest,but they didnt stay long. I have heard that the parents know something is wrong with the baby and they kick them out of the nest. There is old wives tale that if you touch a baby bird the parents will smell that and abandon them. Not true. Most birds can't smell I read someplace.(haven't read which ones do and which ones don't). I had two on the ground recently and decided to do nothing and let mother nature take it's course. Couple days later,they were still in the yard and I did notice an adult bird that seemed to be looking for them. So when I saw one of the babies again,I caught it and put it in a nest. It seems to still be there---a first for me. Haven't seen the second one anymore. I have a dove nest on my patio post. At the corner of the post I put a trim piece at an angle and it built nest on that. It is right above my cook out grill. I can get pretty close to it and almost touch the dove and she is brave about it. This is the smaller Inca dove,called Mexican dove here. Dove typically lay two eggs and that is what this one has. In my yard I have mourning dove nests in some of the trees. Also have a lot of the larger white wing doves hanging around.

[Scrounger]

In the past,Ive had a few young purple martins get on the ground that weren't old enough to fly. I have placed them back in the nest,but they didnt stay long. I have heard that the parents know something is wrong with the baby and they kick them out of the nest. There is old wives tale that if you touch a baby bird the parents will smell that and abandon them. Not true. Most birds can't smell I read someplace.(haven't read which ones do and which ones don't). I had two on the ground recently and decided to do nothing and let mother nature take it's course. Couple days later,they were still in the yard and I did notice an adult bird that seemed to be looking for them. So when I saw one of the babies again,I caught it and put it in a nest. It seems to still be there---a first for me. Haven't seen the second one anymore. I have a dove nest on my patio post. At the corner of the post I put a trim piece at an angle and it built nest on that. It is right above my cook out grill. I can get pretty close to it and almost touch the dove and she is brave about it. This is the smaller Inca dove,called Mexican dove here. Dove typically lay two eggs and that is what this one has. In my yard I have mourning dove nests in some of the trees. Also have a lot of the larger white wing doves hanging around.

Have you been wondering why you have so many cats come around? Are you sure you're not deliberately baiting them in for your heinous gratification?

[carpetman]

I was big game hunting today. It's usually sparrows. Today I got 8 grackles and a starling. The grackles dont frquent my back yard much where I can shoot them. Today they were lighting in some mesquite trees out back. Got the first with my peep sighted Sheridan but since range was longer I switched to the RWS with scope.

[Scrounger]

I was big game hunting today. It's usually sparrows. Today I got 8 grackles and a starling. The grackles dont frquent my back yard much where I can shoot them. Today they were lighting in some mesquite trees out back. Got the first with my peep sighted Sheridan but since range was longer I switched to the RWS with scope.

How many "Lions"? :mad: