Premature Fledging in Martins

It seems only recently I was counting eggs in all of the martin nests and now I'm seeing nestlings that are within a few days of fledging. After hatching it takes a minimum of 26 days from the time they're bare naked to fully feathered and ready to soar. The ones in the photo are 24 days old and when you have them 20 days or older you must be very careful during nest checks to prevent premature fledging. In other words trying to fly before they're quite ready to.


I do this by checking my records to see which nests have nestlings at this age or older and the moment I get the gourds lowered I will place a rag with a string attached into the entrance hole of that particular gourd. When I'm done I gently raise the gourds back into the air, wait 5 minutes or so to allow them to settle down and then pull the string removing the rag. Though some nestlings may still jump after settling I can refer to my detailed nest records and determine where it came from and place it back into its respective gourd. Hard to believe that the nesting season is about to end.

Game Camera Setup

I finally got around to setting up my game camera and FurFindr in a wooded area near our camp. I found out about the FurFindr from The Camera Trap Codger , which is a nifty tool for attracting wildlife. The muddy trail I followed had a plethora of tracks- deer, raccoon, armadillo, rabbit, and a nice coyote trail. In the past I have also come across bobcat tracks here. One of the coyote tracks was perfectly placed and I couldn't pass up the opportunity of casting it in plaster.It took me about 20 minutes to walk to the spot I had selected and once I got there I began setting things up. I strapped the camera to a pine tree about 3 foot off of the ground and set up the furfindr directly in front of it about 10 foot away and covered it with brush. After dark it will send a rabbit squeal through the forest every 30 seconds, an eerie sound to say the least. In between was an old rotted log in which I spritzed fox urine on to try and mask my scent and also act as another attractant. Also a water source was nearby which would be another draw for animals. I plan on leaving the setup out there for a week and hope to return and find some nice photos. I'll be sure and keep everyone updated.