Purple Martin house at the Biocore Prairie - 2021
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March 31, 2021 – Repair wind damage
Chuck Henrikson, David Liebl and Paul Noeldner met at the Biocore Prairie PUMA house Wednesday March 31 to repair the mounting for the new Purple Martin house gourds that were knocked loose by recent high winds. Stronger metal hanging straps were cleverly adapted by David to securely bolt the hanging rod to the Martin House. We were entertained by one of the resident Red-tailed Hawks perched at Eagle Heights Gardens, Song Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds singing, and a reported sighting of both a male and female Bluebird at one of the nearby Bluebird Boxes. Fresh pine needles were added to several open nest slots by Chuck and everything is ready for Purple Martin scouts to arrive soon. Photos by Paul Noeldner. The current Scout arrival map on the purplemartin.org website shows that adults have arrived in Wisconsin and subadults have been spotted as far north as Arkansas. 
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Gisela and Chuck working the winch. Photo by Paul Noeldner.
March 14, 2021 – Grand Season Opening
On this glorious, crisp and sunny morning, Chuck Henrikson and Gisela Kutzbach met at the house to remove the winter covering of the winch mechanism, refresh the nesting boxes, and open two of them for occupation. During the last stages of removing duct tape gook with Goop, Paul Noeldner came up the trail, hauling in his wagon his do-it-all tool kit, four Troyer gourds and new aluminum rods, which he had picked up at Gisela's garage.
In the meantime David Liebl, on his bird walk from Bill's Woods, joined the group and pitched in. In about another hour, the four gourds were perfectly placed, the new perching rods installed, and the winch oiled one more time. The Purple Martin House is as attractive as ever.
We are hoping that the small flocks of purple martins that visited the house on their migration south last fall will take interest in the Friends sponsored Biocore house on their journey north again – and stay. It could also be that later in May / June the subadults, who hatched here last year, will return.
While the purple martins have yet to return to Wisconsin, the crew was happy to see a bluebird perch by one of the new, beautiful bluebird boxes. In addition, the group saw a juvenile and adult pair of red-tailed hawks and song sparrows singing nearby, and turkey vultures circling overhead.
We again have a committed monitor team this season with:
(Janis Cooper)
Chuck Henrikson
Gisela Kutzbach
David Liebl
Seth McGee
Nicole Miller
Paul Noeldner
Will Vuyk
Seth and Paul are our main mechanics; David, Nicole and Will are new to the team and will have their training sessions in April.
On this glorious, crisp and sunny morning, Chuck Henrikson and Gisela Kutzbach met at the house to remove the winter covering of the winch mechanism, refresh the nesting boxes, and open two of them for occupation. During the last stages of removing duct tape gook with Goop, Paul Noeldner came up the trail, hauling in his wagon his do-it-all tool kit, four Troyer gourds and new aluminum rods, which he had picked up at Gisela's garage.
In the meantime David Liebl, on his bird walk from Bill's Woods, joined the group and pitched in. In about another hour, the four gourds were perfectly placed, the new perching rods installed, and the winch oiled one more time. The Purple Martin House is as attractive as ever.
We are hoping that the small flocks of purple martins that visited the house on their migration south last fall will take interest in the Friends sponsored Biocore house on their journey north again – and stay. It could also be that later in May / June the subadults, who hatched here last year, will return.
While the purple martins have yet to return to Wisconsin, the crew was happy to see a bluebird perch by one of the new, beautiful bluebird boxes. In addition, the group saw a juvenile and adult pair of red-tailed hawks and song sparrows singing nearby, and turkey vultures circling overhead.
We again have a committed monitor team this season with:
(Janis Cooper)
Chuck Henrikson
Gisela Kutzbach
David Liebl
Seth McGee
Nicole Miller
Paul Noeldner
Will Vuyk
Seth and Paul are our main mechanics; David, Nicole and Will are new to the team and will have their training sessions in April.
Bluebird near Biocore Prairie and the Eagle Heights Community Gardens on March 14, 2021. Photo by Paul Noeldner.
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Predator-proof poles protect the bluebird houses installed by Jeff Koziol. Photo by Paul Noeldner photos
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Work is done for season opening. Paul, Gisela, Chuck. Photo by David Liebl
