On the following page, you'll see some photos from my own colony. As the season progresses, I'll keep adding a few more as I get them.
If you're bored or just want to look as some pictures of purple martins in everyday life in the colony, then by all means, have at it...and remember, I'm not a professional photographer, but a few did turn out pretty good.
As you'll no doubt see, I have a 'camera gourd'. This camera is attached to my downstairs TV and it's where I sit and watch (and learn) what's going on inside a martin gourd. I love this thing! It has afforded me many hours of enjoyment watching the antics of adults, eggs and young as they grow inside their gourd.
If you've been here before, be sure to 'refresh' your browser so the latest versions of pictures will show up.
These pictures have been resized so that they don't take up a ton of space. I'm sorry, but some of the quality had to be sacrificed in order to save some space. If for some reason you want to see the hi-res version of a picture, hold your cursor over the thumbnail and it'll show the photo number in the lower left corner of your browser. Email that number to me and we'll see what we can do to get you the hi-res version of the photo.
Enjoy!
To view the pictures full size, click on the thumbnail.
February 2008
It's early in the season and the martins are just now beginning to return. It's too early to pair off yet, but some of the males are beginning to become vocal.
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March 2008
Early March and more martins are coming in one and two at a time.
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April 2008
Still cool, but the sun is shining more and things are beginning to pick up.
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May 2008
A frenzy of activity, nest building, eggs laying and 'subbies' coming in, raising their usual ruckus.
This is the time of year when things really get going. The birds are now taking nesting seriously, laying eggs and for all the early hatchers, babies to feed.
They're small right now, so smaller mouthfuls of food do the trick.
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June 2008
More subbies are showing up. Early arrivals are getting serious which means lots more eggs to hatch and babies to feed now.
Because the young from the adults are now getting older and need more and more food, the larger insects are the choice of the adults. More food, less trips to the supermarket.
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Mid June, 2008
At this time of year, the larger insects are much preferred. Dragonflies, damselflies, grasshoppers and even a large butterfly or wasp, all are fair game. A few of the freshly fledged young are still trying to coax mom to part with a free meal.
Still plenty of time in between trips for food to sit and talk with the neighbors. Need to keep up with the latest gossip.
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