Nest change video

Today I did my first nest change out on two cavities.  As the next two weeks go by I will be conducting Nest changes on the cavities with young.  A nest check is done every 5 - 7 days. A nest change, where the bedding is replaced, is done when young are about ten days old.  This eliminates nest parasites, especially Blowfly, and helps keep the nest sanitary.  While a nest change is not mandatory of a purple Martin landlord, it does allow one to help their martins raise a successful brood. 

Below is a check of my T-10 house and a change of a chirpyNest cavity

Eggs cellent week for hatching.

Today’s nest check reveals a whole lot of hatching going on. 

June 3= 211 eggs / 33 young.

June 9 = 66 eggs / 179 young.

At my home colony. Abingdon Va

at VHCC Colony on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College yesterday , June 8 

the results are 58 eggs and 80 babies.  

on june 2 104 eggs and 26 young.  

Temperatures have heated up and it’s been a drier week so feeding conditions should be ideal.  Storms and prolonged Periods of rain can be hard on Purple martins but so far conditions are ideal.   

a brood from compartment number T-2 at VHCC

hatch day in ChirpyNest compartment at VHCC. 

clear blue sky during Friday nest check at VHCC 

Saturday June 9 at my Peaceful Valley Purple Martin colony. 

Martins hatching at Peaceful Valley

June 3 nest check and here are the results:  

63 active nests. Up from 61 on May 30.  

33 Young hatched. Up from 0 on May 30

211 eggs.  

A few of the findings 

These two were expected to have hatched on the last nest check on May 30 but had not. Judging from the size,  they may have hatched after the check that day. Four ChirpyNest cavities were added below this trendsetter house for 2018. 

The castle house has not been well occupied the last several years. This cavity C-4 had one egg on May 30 and two today.  Not much of a nest but since there are green leaves and I’ve seen the SY parents entering the compartment I think the nest is being tended.  I choose not to add better nest material to this cavity. If I did and the eggs didn’t hatch I would wonder if that was the reason.  By the same token by not adding better nest material, if the nest failed I will wonder if I could have made a difference. In cases like this I “ let nature be nature”.  

These five young are in a compartment two cavities above the one shown in the next picture that houses a pair of tree swallows.  In established Purple Martin colonies tree swallows will occasionally raise a brood amongst the martins.  Usually the TS are evicted when trying to set up with established martins. This pair actually was evicted from another cavity but was not when they set up in this one.  

If one is trying to attract martins for the first time tree swallows CAN NOT be allowed to claim a cavity. There is protocol at the Purple Martin conservation Association website  to follow in establishing a colony that allows one to handle the tree swallow/ martin situation.  

The feathers lining the nest is a sure sign of a tree swallow nest. I don’t know where they find all the white feathers but in twenty plus years it’s always been white feathers used.  

This egg was hatching as I did the nest check. Both halves of the shell are still in the nest and the baby is still in one of the halves.  The parents will remove the shell pieces but if one of the halves caps one of the unhatched eggs it can prevent the egg from hatching. If you notice the middle egg, you will see that it is capped with one of the halves from the hatched egg.  I removed this cap before moving on to the next cavity.  

First Young have hatched

at the Virginia Highlands Community College site my nest check for today June 2, 2018, allows me to fet a look at the first young of the season.  

together there were 26 Young and 104 eggs in 30 active nests.  

I had to squeeze in the check between rain showers and finished just before another downpour.   

The development of the babies really goes fast and by months end they will be leaving their nest for the first time.   

nest check logbook through June 2 for

the T-14

nest check log for the ChirpyNest setup VHCC.