Martin House

[AgentOrange]

Some reading to kill time in quarantine.

The Bride gave me a Martin House to mount for my birthday. I am not as "handy" as some believe.

I have wanted one on my dock, so trying to mount it there.
I had to spend a hundred for a 12' steel telescoping pole, 36 for solar lights, 25 for stain, and 20 for decoy Martins. They forgot to add the hardware when shipping the pole, so had to acquire some steel bolts. I can't afford for my Bride to give me a present.

Here is the deal, most Martin houses you see are plastic gourds or thin wall plastic or tin.
The cedar one I wanted is heavy, but looks great after I stained it. Everything on the lake needs extra protection.


My big problem is due to math.
“Give me one firm spot on which to stand, and I shall move the earth.” – Archimedes
Archimedes was a smart guy, and he is biting me in the ass today. If you attach a pole to a dock and put a heavy load at the other end, where it hits the dock becomes the fulcrum point. The longer the lever -> well you see the problem.

I have this pole https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Compounding my problem is the wind often hits over 20mph, and over 30 is common. The lake gets white caps like the ocean, but not enough to surf. Boats pass and make waves. The dock bounces around like a fishing cork. That heavy house way up on a pole is exerting heavy stress below as it shifts back and forth from the dock moving. Some connection is bound to fail at some some point. That will be where the house or the dock is attached to the pole. That pole is not going to bend.

Years back had solidly attached a steel umbrella stand there. It is about 3' and slightly larger than the pole, so using that as my base. It looks something like this:


Attaching the house to the pole took some thinking and drilling, but I believe I have it rigged in. Time will tell. There is less stress there than below, but is a weak point.

I mounted two of these lights on top of the house "just because", sorta like a light house. My dock has solar power lighting , these are just fun, and very bright.



I attached two plastic Martins decoys. It is too late this year for a Martin, so if they never choose me, will have these to look at. I have Bluebirds and Cave Swallows there as I already have up 5 normal houses there. I raise a lot of birds on my dock.
If Martins don't show next year, someone will use this house.

The first section is about 7 foot up, so needed a step ladder to slide in the next sections. The dock floats and with wind and waves from boats, it bounces around. I like that when sitting in my chair, not so much when balancing on a ladder. I do have a touch of Vertigo. After eye surgery my eyes each form a different picture for my brain to deal with, and that makes it worse. Closing one eye when on the ladder helps.

Due to the pergola, could not get the ladder as close as I would prefer. The heavy house on the end of a pole and me on a ladder "reaching" trying to slip the other end in was almost more than I could handle as I am old and not strong (damn Archimedes). At the last second before I gave out, got it in. Better would be attaching the house after the poles are in, but lacking the hardware tried this way. As a plus, while falling might have harmed my house, I would have landed in the water.
Telescoping the pole down to service the house will be not as hard.

I hate a pole that is not straight. I am always adjusting the ones that hold my bird feeders.
The dock aint level, the pole sections are different diameter by design and don't fit tight. This pole is not perpendicular and will never be. I will be able to improve it some and take out the rattle. As a plus, folks will always know "Bill" did that, did not pay to have it done right.

I used duck tape, heavy plastic ties (I am a real RedNeck) and a 5' steel fence stake to reinforce where the pole slid into umbrella stand. That stopped movement there and made the pole closer to perpendicular. That should hold until some 10" steel clamp bands arrive from Amazon . (I am in isolation and can't just run to Lowes.)

My hope is on my next birthday the Bride just gives me a strippergram.

[Chuck Farley]

Should you have a future project that requires an extra hand, let me know. I just got the results back from my covid test and am negative, so at least for now, I wouldn't be putting your life in jeopardy.

[AgentOrange]

Should you have a future project that requires an extra hand, let me know. I just got the results back from my covid test and am negative, so at least for now, I wouldn't be putting your life in jeopardy.

Yeah, you were good the day the test was administered, but an hour later as you hit Chick-fl-la or had your hair clipped - WTF could have attached to you.

Two months back we were all afraid . Today the danger is a thousand times more due to more folks out there with it. It is not less today, but more, much more.

I have pissed off most of my neighbors. Early today was taking out a tree that is leaning over the road. A neighbor in his golf cart thing rode up, turned it off to ?? I told him I was in isolation and walked quickly away. There is another enemy made.

[Marty Gass]

I have been going pretty much everywhere we are allowed to go. Only started wearing a mask about 2 weeks ago in places where they require it to go inside. I have always washed my hands. I use a sanitary wipe when using the porta jons in the park. The bathrooms are under construction at the office so they have a bunch of porta jons instead. They are always nasty as you usually cannot wash your hands after messing with the handles etc and people are pigs. Not worried about the China flu. If I am not healthy enough to fight it off then that is how it goes. Don't want it but I am not going to worry about it. I drive the highways 50,000 miles per year and have more of a chance of never making it home alive doing that than I do having the bug kill me. People who want to go to work or open their business should do so. Those who believe they are at a particular risk should stay away if they choose. I get paid for sitting at home so I will not tell anyone else that they cannot open their business or go to work to protect me. Government is there to protect my life from someone assaulting me trying to kill me and my property from anyone trying to steal it. I see people running in the park and bike ridding in the park with masks on. Don't know why. Wish I was wearing on during my run yesterday at one point as I sucked in a cottonwood seed and nearly choked to death.

[Marty Gass]

I may have seen a martin in my yard yesterday. I bought a few more feeders and bought some "special" food that the store said was formulated for them as it has the most popular food variety for local birds. Out of the 4 feeders with different food in them, that feeder gets the most attention. I also put out shelled sunflower seeds coated with hot pepper which is supposed to keep squirrels away and it seems to do so. I need to move the feeder as the birds have a hard time finding it.

Got my new binoculars Monday. 10x42 Vortex Diamond Back. They are an improvement over the 10x25 that were ok but just not as good. My 7x35 wide angle are not much good for the yard. Bought a new bird book and, as usual got more than I can use. I cannot find the one I got last year which was good and focused on the southeast. I will find it if it kills me.

Up until the end of last week I saw rabbits in my yard several times per day. Have not seen one in about 6 or 7 days. Hawks????

[AgentOrange]

I may have seen a martin in my yard yesterday. I bought a few more feeders and bought some "special" food that the store said was formulated for them

What food was that?
Birds have different diets. I don't think Martins eat anything that is not alive.

. I also put out shelled sunflower seeds coated with hot pepper which is supposed to keep squirrels away and it seems to do so.

I love my squirrels have fed them for years. They can be more fun than the birds. Now I have cats and squirrels are less. They don't eat that much, just put up a platform feeder for them.


10x42 Vortex Diamond Back looks to be a great bino, good choice. I see they have a focus distance of 7' which is important to me. Some experts don't like 10 power, but most men can hold that steady (and most women). The 10X25 is more of an opera glass.

Bought a new bird book and, as usual got more than I can use. I cannot find the one I got last year which was good and focused on the southeast. I will find it if it kills me.

Over the years have acquired a library of bird books from gifts and search.
I like some more than others.
The best for me and most is this:
https://www.amazon.com/Peterson-Fiel...-search&sr=8-4


Basically if you don't have a well worn copy of Peterson, you aint in the game. I know every page as I have been in it thousands of times. Buy a copy and get to know it.
It will help teach you what to look for as to markings. Birds can confuse anyone.

The two main types are photos or drawings. Peterson is drawings. My favorite photo one is Stokes, but Audubon is good.



If you take your own photo, you can ask here, as Chuck and Tony are experts. The web is now great for tracking down a bird as there are endless photos. The trick is to get a quick photo, it don't have to be a good photo, just good enough to help ID. You iphone can do that.


The deal as to ID is markings. Drawings do that best. Birds even of a feather don't look the same, so a photo in a book is not best. Birds don't even look the same different times of the year. Males, females and juveniles all can look like different birds.

Get all the books, but study Peterson, and keep it close.