Martins to arrive any day

The day is nearly here in my plan for housing purple martins. Information gathered in my quest to establis a martin colony tells me that for this area the Martins will arrive between March 1-15. The home for the colony stands in readiness, and for the next two weeks, I will keep a keen eye out for the first of the migrating birds looking for a new home.

The martin house I bought has a nice green roof, not unlike the new metal roofs that you see people install on their barns, and occasionally, houses. I have begun to notice white spots and a polka-dot look to the top of the roof. I am beginning to think that the starlings are perching on the peak of the roof and using it for an outhouse! This could be part of some sinister plot to cause the martins to nest elsewhere. I can imagine the martins scouts arriving in my backyard, taking one look at the house and saying to each other, "Be careful where step; this looks pretty messy."

One desperation backup plan may be to drive around the neighborhood and find out if martins have arrived at other homes in town, and perhaps to post flyers offering them the opportunity to nest in my backyard.

Right now I still have high hopes, but the next ten days are what we call "crunch time." An alternate plan might be to see ifI can find someone that wnats to buy a slightly used martin house with a speckled roof.