Purple martins fly into local areas by Rene Hatten - posted Thursday, February 14th, 2013 @ 12:00 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  Now is the time to prepare for your Purple Martin scouts, coming here to North Louisiana, late January and into February. They are an added treasure to our home. We enjoy our back porch in the afternoon, watching the Martins flying in and out of our pool and catching upward to 2000 mosquitoes each I'm told by fellow Martin admires. We have two sets of housing boxes and plan to get more. We use the metal houses since martin houses are placed in the open, fully exposed to wind, rain, and summer sun. It has good ventilation, drainage, and insulation that are important to the well-being of the martins. The construction is chosen for their ability to withstand windstorms and hailstorms. ..... For the full story, subscribe to the The Ouachita Citizen's NEW E-Edition!