The fourth nest check started with some bad news.  I was a bit devastated during my most recent nest check of the ECE and Rush Lake colonies.  As I approached the housing at the ECE colony, I noticed SEVERAL cracked eggs below the housing!   In total, out of the 19 nests containing eggs, 9 eggs were missing!  However, there are still 19 nests with eggs and 5 nests with green leaves.   The productivity of the colony will be down a bit because of the House Sparrows, but hopefully the hatch rate will be high.  At the Rush Lake Colony, one of the firsts nest's eggs were all pecked!   However, there are still 2 nests with eggs and 9 other nests with green leaves.  I've already trapped two pairs of House Sparrows and there was no House Sparrow nests found in any of the compartments.  In total, 12 eggs have been pecked by House Sparrows.

I plan on making several small "bird houses" that can hold the Universal Sparrow Trap, with 1 - 3/8" entrance hole and attach a couple of them to the T-14 and a couple to the gourd rack and leave them open all week.   I'm sure I would catch many of the House sparrows before they venture into the martin's nest.   I'm not worried about Blue Birds or Tree Swallows as they don't seem to attempt to nest in a martin house that is occupied by martins.   Its a risk, but is it worth it???   ...it just might be!

The Memory Lake Colony (Grantsburg, WI) has 22 nests, 17 of which have eggs.  The Snake River Colony (Pine City, MN) has 14 nests, 9 of which have eggs.  The Pokegama Lake Colony (Pine City, MN) has 11 nests, 2 of which have eggs.  The ECE Colony (Braham, MN) has 24 nests, 19 of which have eggs.  Finally, the Rush Lake Colony (Rush City, MN) has 9 nests, 2 of which have eggs.  There are about 3 weeks left for nest building and egg laying.  Some subbies (Second Year birds) are still busy building nests and bringing in green leaves (the picture shows a nest that is ready for its first eggs!), while others are already incubating their eggs.