One of the things we do during purple martin season is check the gourds to see how the nests are progressing. We usually do this around 3:30 in the afternoon, when most of the birds are out hunting for bugs. That tends to be the easiest time to work because there are fewer birds around the colony while we are checking each nest.
To inspect them, I lower the racks and open each gourd one at a time. As I go, I take a picture of the gourd number and then a picture of the inside of the gourd so I can document everything later. This helps me keep track of how many eggs and babies are in each nest and makes it much easier to review everything once we are finished. With 72 gourds to check, it is definitely a process.
It is always easier when I have some help, especially with this many gourds. This time, Chester helped by opening the caps and putting them back on after I inspected each nest. He also helped by raising the rack we had finished while I lowered the next rack to be checked. It is one of those jobs that goes much more smoothly with an extra set of hands.
This check showed that all 72 gourds had nests, and 69 of them had eggs or babies. At the time of this check, we counted 188 babies and 110 eggs still to hatch. It is always exciting to see how active the colony is and to watch the season unfold one nest check at a time.
Checking the gourds takes time, but it is one of the best ways for us to keep track of how the colony is doing. It gives us a chance to monitor their progress closely and see all of the new life growing inside the gourds. It is a lot of work, but it is also one of the most rewarding parts of having purple martins on the farm.
