Purple Martin House Diary Tennessee

I have a long history of relatives being Purple Martin landlords. My father Gene Wilson, grandfather Herman Wilson and great-great-uncle James Paul Sanders past on this tradition to me Rodney Wilson. As a boy I often just sat with my grandfather and watched the acrobatic flying maneuvers of his Martin colony. Imagination running wild and wishing as all young kids, I could fly too, as nearby a Martin would dive bomb an insect mid air for quick meal.

Unfortunately to many years have past and last year was the first time I became a Purple Martin landlord. I asked my mother Ginger Lang if she would get me a house for my birthday. She delighted me and May 21st 2008 at the age of 43, I officially became a Purple Martin landlord.

Don't be alarmed or taken a back being a Gemini and from Tennessee my Hill Billy side will pop up on occasion. Here is me ole Tennessee rendition of that first day. "Plum tickled to death and grinnin like a possum eatin a sweet tater I wuz. I skedaddled lickty spit straight to the Home Depot to fetch me some concrete to bury that there pole to put my new twelve family martin condo atop. Twikst the shoveling, concreting, putting house together and ladder climbing three hours and I wuz finished. Wouldn't you know that first day a male Martin perched on top just as pretty as you please. I about fell over dead. Before the day wuz done that pretty white and green Martin condo wuz as thick as flies on hounds back with chirpin Martins. How's that for beginners luck?"

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The Martins are coming." "The Martins are coming." Tis the season to clean out your Martin house as the Purple Martin migration season is upon us. This is also a wonderful time to get your new Martin house situated.

05 March 09 - My Guess is Martin scouts will be here in TN within the next 10 days. So today I took down and cleaned out my 12 family Purple Martin house and will leave it down for 2 days to discourage the House Sparrows. I have 2 neighbors with 3 houses. Theirs are still covered in black plastic. First pretty day in awhile.

06 March - Morning Cloudy but nice. Lots of activity from Sparrows, Starlings, Jays, Robins, Doves but no Martins. Spent the day in McMinnville and Manchester, TN with mother doing Genealogy research, meeting with family, visiting cemeteries and old home places. Sunny and great spring day. Found my GGG-grandfather James W Sanders info which made the trip a huge success. Afternoon is great but no Martins.

07 March - The winds of Spring have blown for three days, today being the most beautiful 76 degrees, partly cloudy with a slight breeze. Although spring doesn't officially start until the 20th of March, the first days of spring weather are always special and bring about wonderful memories of days gone bye. My buttercups, forsythia and pear trees are in full bloom. The insects are starting to fly from the ground so Martins won't be far behind. Today I put my Purple Martin House back up on the retractable metal pole, three days of being down may help discourage the sparrows from trying to nest there. A little yard work, a nice drive with the wife Lisa and some afternoon fishing with my son Ian Michael all make for a wonderful day.

PS. Remember to move the clocks forward one hour tonight as daylight savings time starts Sunday.

08 March - Morning cloudy, windy but warm, storms may be moving in this afternoon. First thing in morning I go out on the back deck to have a smoke and look up at my Martin house and a male House Sparrow is perched calling out to prospective females. Darnit I walk over a tap the metal pole with my ring and scare him off. I decide to climb the ladder lower the pole and remove the house again as no Martins have been sighted. Disrupting the Sparrows is one of keys to a successful Purple Martin colony. A quite lazy day my wife Lisa and daughter Brittney spent most of the day at her mothers. I started my second Squidoo Lens and finished a Squidoo Group. Watched the race and fell a sleep before the end Kurt Bush won. I went back with my so Ian Michael to the Lake a couple hours before dark to get some more fishing in. Caught a few bass but the wind hampered our efforts. The storms went north of us up into Kentucky so we had a beautiful afternoon. I can hardly wait till the Martins arrive.

09 March - What a beautiful Morning. I start a new job today at Empire Today. Once finished with training, I will be assisting folks with their flooring needs. I'll be training 10am to 3pm all this week. The first day is always a bit hectic but went well. I'm excited about the opportunity.
Patiently awaiting the arrival of my Martins, the calendar says the 15th of March for Nashville, TN Martin arrival. Put some chicken feed out for the doves.

10 March - Put the Martin house back up today and fully extended the pole before heading off to work. Once I got home around 3:20 I shoed off a Sparrow from the house. Then climbed the ladder and wouldn't you know the darn Sparrows had one room full of nesting material. So I pulled it all out and clapped and made a bunch of weird noises to scare them off. If my neighbors seen me, they probably think I'm crazy. I dropped the nesting material under the house as the Martin can use it once they arrive. Walked under the house, smacked the pole and made lots of noise about 20 times before dark. Keeping the Sparrows away till the Martins arrive is tricky but needed if Martins are to successfully colonize.

11 March - What a difference a day can make in Tennessee weather in the spring. This morning rain, windy and 40 degrees brr it feels like 36. Checked the Martin house several times no Sparrows my antics from yesterday must have worked. It's a good habit to walk under your Martin House several times a day. Weatherman is calling for a wintry mix for tomorrow not good for the Martins as the insects will return to the ground. Visted aunt Judy & uncle Raymond Beard for few hours today they were doing well and we had a great visit.

12 March - Our little taste of spring, out the window as winter returned today. Sleet Snow and rain today no accumulation. Sparrows are trying to nest again. I pulled out the nesting material and lowered the house like a flag to half mast. Saw a beautiful woodpecker and several brilliantly blue Jays today. I just learned tonight that one Purple Martin Scout was spotted yesterday by my son Ian. I have had my eyes peeled to the sky and not seen a one, the excitement is building. So having some younger eyes watching for the Martins return is helpful. Currently 32degrees, my kids three boys Ian, Austin, Jacob and one girl the youngest Brittney, two of which still attend high school all know the Martins well. If the weather worsens tonight the schools will close and I'll jokingly put them all on Martin watch.

13 March - Cold and Rainy all day. Very little bird movement. No Martins spotted.
Finished in-house training with Empire Today. Monday I will start running appointments. My brother Randall's Wife Jeoungah (pronounced Chunga ) father passed away in his sleep at the age of 91 in Seoul, Korea. Chunga who hasn't been back to Korea since coming to the USA in 1992 is distraught as she may not be able to return to Korea for her father's funeral. Money, an expired passport, 3 children, my brother is on National Guard duty this weekend and gearing up to deploy to Iraq 31st of March all are issues she must overcome to be able to travel back to Korea for her fathers funeral. We are praying she can go as it's not looking promising.

14 March - Rain all day some warmer but still cool. No Martins today and no Sparrows to contend with as most birds are waiting out the rain. Prayers are being answered and people are responding to my Sister-in-Laws needs. Yesterday evening Chunga called the Korean embassy in Atlanta, Spoke with the Korean ambassador and they are going to have someone open up the passport office for her on Sunday, Wow as the embassy is officially closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Then my Mother spoke to a past friend of my brother, who with others raised the $2000.00 for the plane fair. None of these folks even knew my sister Chunga. Nothing short of miraculous it's looking as if after 17 years Chunga will get to return home and attend her beloved father's funeral. Tomorrow I will take Chunga to Atlanta which is about 3 1/2 hour drive from Nashville, TN, so she can get her passport renewed. What a testament to the power of prayer.
15 March - Up early, cloudy with fog. We left Chunga's house in Murfreesboro, TN at 8:30 am for our trip to Atlanta. Going over Mount Eagle was all fog and a bit treacherous. Finding the International building was a challenge as it was behind other high rise buildings downtown. There is a lot of traffic in downtown Atlanta even on a Sunday. There was a nice small mall at the 1st floor of the International bldg where I waited at an Irish Pub until Chunga received her passport. To my joy the UT and Mississippi State game was playing, UT lost. As soon as the game was over Chunga all smiles had her passport in hand. We had a nice drive back home. No Martins today.
16 March - Doves this Morning are cooing and the Cardinals are active. Checked the Martin house and the darn Sparrows had nesting material packed in one room again, so I climbed the ladder lowered the house and cleaned it once more. Them Sparrows are plum aggravating. Well we all did it; Chunga boarded a plane at 6:40 am and is headed to her father's funeral in Korea. Her flight will take 15 1/2 hours that's a long time on a plane.
I had no work today so I got the BB gun out sat on the back deck and scared Sparrows and Starling off. Before anyone gets upset none were killed in the progress and I shot like 75 BB's throughout the day. My wife Lisa gets upset at even the thought of me killing any birds so I am careful to hit other things. It's funny though the Robins and Doves don't move an inch when I shoot, but the Sparrows all fly away. I shoot at metal things like pie pans about the yard and the noise freaks out the Sparrows. While this was going the birds all over the neighborhood were busy as bees and chirping about. Then all of a sudden it went completely quite not a bird could be heard. I looked about the sky and saw a hawk was flying over. Once the hawk flew on the birds went back to normal.
17 March - Saint Patty's Day; Went to lunch with mom today and put up some gourds at here house in hopes the Martins take to them. Mom's back yard isn't ideal for Martins because of her high trees but you never know with Martins. A beautiful day warm and sunny. My Son Ian and brother Randall Wilson both leave the 31st of March with their Army Guard Unit for deployment to Iraq. They will spend 2 1/2 months at Ft Sill in Oklahoma training before shipping out over seas. I will miss them both. Chunga my brother Randy's wife made it safely to Korea
18 March - Temp hit 79 today a gorgeous day. The Latter part of winter was colder than usual this year so it has slowed the Purple Martin's northern migration. Normally by now we have Martins. We have seen a few Purple Martin scouts but that's it. Traveled to Springfield, Tennessee and Franklin, Tennessee today. Lots of driving today and saw some beautiful country side and some great Martin house set ups, just no Martins yet.
19 March - No Martins today. Visited my Aunt Judy and Uncle Raymond Beard and my cousin Dale.
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Currently House Sparrows pose the greatest threat to Purple Martins, as sparrows do not migrate and set up house keeping earlier than Martins and can aggressively take over Martin colonies. Also Starlings are aggressive nest site competitors and can endanger your Martin colony. Learn the tricks of keeping competitive species at bay and enjoy a long lasting relationship with your Martin colony.

10 Tips To Attracting Purple Martins

Wild Birds on The Web

Helpful Hints for Purple Martin Landlords

Interesting Story: Eaten Sparrow Claws Through Hawk
As both are enemies to our beloved Martins, would two with one stone apply?

20 March - 1st day of Spring. Cooler temps but nice. No Martins. BB gun hitting metal objects to scare off the Sparrows.
21 March - A nice day spent with the wife Lisa no kids. The Mocking birds are just singing away. No Martins seen today.
22 March - Every morning I go out on the back deck for coffee and a smoke and gaze at the sky anticipating the sighting of Purple Martins. Today about 10:30am I was looking at the skies and spotted something off in the distance. I did a double take and sure enough spotted my 1st Purple Martin Scout. I yelled for Lisa, she came quickly and we both sat in utter excitement as one lone male Martin Scout circled our place. After what seemed an eternity, actually only 10 minutes without ever landing my 1st Martin of the year just flew off to where abouts unknown. It won't be long now before the return of my Martin colony. 3pm I spotted 2 more Martins that flew by quickly at high altitude a straight one bye.
Just a wonderful spring day. About 5pm I saw 6 Martins flying about one landed on my neighbor's house and checked it out for a few minutes. The Martins stayed about 20 minutes then flew off and didn't return. A truly exciting day for a Martin lover.