Memorial Day Update-Memorial 28, 2012

We decided to check on our martin friends over the Memorial Day weekend! We seem to be running out the sparrows slowly! They have not been building on Pod 3 at all, so now we hope to get them out of pod 4! Below you will see some of the exciting photos we took Monday! The first is Pod 1 with the big babies. Pod #2 still has 6 eggs. Pod 3 was empty and #4 had a sparrow nest. Pod #5 is the nest with 6 eggs and only one hatched. Pod #6 had 2 eggs! Pod #7 had the 4 hatched babies. The last pod, #8, had two babies and then an egg that appeared as if a baby was hatching. Unfortuantly, there was no movement. :( We are hopeful that this changes, but it doesn't look good.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Today something exciting happened! As we put the pods back up, a daddy flew in with a HUGE butterfly! Unfortunantly, he dropped it. Look how BIG it was!

Pod #1 In house one, the babies are getting darker. We think we might be seeing some feathers on them. Today was the first day we could see all 4 of the babies. They are getting a lot bigger and their eyes are starting to open!

Pod #2 We still have 6 eggs! We are wondering when they will hatch!

Pod #3 In house 3, we had another sparrow nest. This nest was really small and didn’t have an egg! We think they are giving up. Pod #4-Sparrow nest ONE egg. BOO!!!

Pod #5 We have our 6 eggs!!!

Pod #6 These martins are building fast in this Pod! They are catching up!

Pod #7-Purple martin nest with 4 eggs. No change.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

As you read the updates...be sure to look at the timeline of pics from pod 1! It is so cool to see how the babies are changing! House 1 The baby birds are darker than at first. Also, the babies are getting bigger and will probably have feathers sometime this week. Today we took a purple martin baby out of its nest and compared it to a chart that second grade has.

Pod #2 Strange things are happening! We now have 6 eggs in this pod! Kids are wondering if two females are laying eggs because we have had 3 eggs up until Monday when we got 2 more~ It is not following the typical pattern! House 3 Can you guess what’s in house 3? An annoying sparrow that won’t give up! We pulled out a big nest, but no egg! Pod #4-Medium sized sparrow nest with NO eggs. The diatomaceous earth powder that Mrs. Cooper used really made the bugs go away.

Pod #5- The same 6 martin eggs! Pod #6- This nest is growing pretty large! We wonder if eggs might be coming soon! Pod #7-No change. Still a purple martin nest with 4 shiny eggs.

Monday,May 21, 2012

This weekend we made sure to put some Diatomaceous earth in all of the nests. This ALL NATURAL product, that Wild Birds Unlimited donated to us, safely kills the mites and bugs but is harmless to our martins and babies! All data is not in, but here are the updates I have! Pod 1 The purple martin babies are sleeping. The nest looks complete. The baby birds are growing their feathers. They look like they are turning a grayish-purple.

Pod 2-Same 5 eggs! Notice the green leaf which is something Purple Martins do before laying eggs!

Pod 3 House 3 is still a sparrow’s nest. Today, there was an egg in there. Pod #4-Large sparrow nest but NO eggs.

Pod #5 6 eggs! You can see the stuff we sprinkled, it's at the bottom of the picture, to protect against bugs!

Pod #6 Pod #7-No change. Still a purple martin nest with 4 eggs.

Pod 8

Friday, May 18, 2012

Pod #1- 4 precious pink babies with their eyes closed!

Pod #2-3 eggs in a martin nest

Pod #3- Sparrow nest AGAIN! Pod#4-extra small sparrow nest-NO egg Pod #5-Same 6 eggs in a Purple Martin Nest!

Pod #6-This martin nest is getting bigger! Pod #7-no change. Purple martin nest with 4 eggs.

May 17. 2012

We are a little off in our posts, but you can keep up by the titles of our blogs as we are using the date! Nest 1 In nest number 1, we now have 4 baby purple martins. The last one hatched yesterday or early this morning. The baby purple martins were sleeping. We predict in 6 days (on May 22) the baby birds will have feathers.

Nest 2

Nest 3 In nest number 3, there was a sparrow nest with no eggs. We think that the sparrows are going to give up

Pod #4 A small sparrow nest with NO eggs! But, it has TONS of bugs. Mrs. Campbell is going to look into getting us something to get rid of the bugs.

Pod #5 We are still keeping an eye on ALL 6 of these beautiful eggs! This is our biggest nest!

Pod #6 Thanks to Wild Birds Unlimited for giving us a new roof for our pod #6! Their kind donation has allowed us to provide another home for a pair of martins! Looks like they have already started building!

Pod #7 Purple martin nest-no change…still 4 eggs.

May 16, 2012

Nest 1: There are BABIES! The babies are very small and pink. All of second grade is so pleased, but still one has not hatched. Some kids think it will hatch on Friday, May 18.

Pod #2:

Nest 3: The Sparrows are still trying to take over this house. House 3 does not have any eggs, but there was a Sparrow nest. Since there isn’t an egg, their territory isn’t claimed.

Pod #4 A sparrow nest but it was very small, not complete and it had NO eggs.

Pod #5

Pod #7 No change. Still purple martin nest with 4 white eggs.

May 14, 2012

Now that we have SO MANY martins in our colony, we have decided to divide up the pods so that each class can have the chance to record photos and report obervations. We had a little issue with the photos, but hope to have some for you daily starting on Wed!!! Pod #4-There was a sparrow nest with 2 eggs. Pod #7-Purple martin nest is still there with 4 eggs! Nest 1 A purple martin nest has 4 eggs in number 1. We predict that the eggs will hatch on Friday, May 18. Nest 3 In nest 3 there are 2 eggs from a sparrow. The sparrows are not giving up! They keep building nests and laying eggs. Pod #5- There are now 5 eggs in this nest!!! Nest 2-Even though 2 eggs were knocked out of this nest, there are a total of 3!

May 7, 2012

The MWE second graders are happy to announce that our colony is established and GROWING! As of the notes today: Pod #1- This pod has the same 4 white eggs. It was the first to have eggs. Pod # 2-This is the mud and stick nest. We opened it up and SURPRISE! A female was inside with eggs! Such a cool experience and we will post a pic! Thank you Mrs. Meyer for helping out! Pods 3 & 4 continue to have sparrow nests that we remove! Pod #5-The kids seem to thing this martin is young or confused. They keep putting things that look like sticks but are trash. Is it a sparrow trying to add trash? We are not sure, but the nest is growing! Pod #7- YEAH! This nest is growing and has leaves....waiting on the green leaves now! Pod # 8- Another nest with leaves! NOW the coolest news is our large white house. After daily cleanings and removal of sparrow nests, the purple martins are finally taking interest in some of the condos! So if you are out observing on the weekends, during recess, or any other time, jot us a note and let us know wat you observe!! Second graders at MWE

May 2, 2012

What a WONDERFUL day to observe our martins! We have 7 pods and our martins are competing with the sparrows for new homes! Based on our second graders observations: Pod #1-This pod has a nest of sticks and leaves. It also has 4 white eggs! YEAH! Pod #2- This pod has a VERY large nest made of mud and sticks. It is quite different than the nest in pod #1, but we know it is a martin nest! We are just waiting for eggs. Pod #3 and #4-These pods seem to be loved by the sparrows. We keep taking sparrow nests out! They can build their nests FAST! Pod #5- Today we noticed a nest in the making! We even saw a female martin carrying the same nesting material as she was gliding above us! Pod #6-Missing Pod #7- Not much Pod # 8- We have a few sticks! We will post more pictures that we are taking with our class I-touches! We hope you enjoy our newest Second Grade Project!