Tiny Lessons

It's a tiny bird, the Carolina Wren. If you followed the story of my front porch wrens last Spring, and the window box wrens of the previous year, you will not be surprised to know they are back. They really never left, sleeping each Winter night in the hanging ferns on the porch, which we didn't have the heart to remove although shrivelled, brown and quite dead. As the warmer days appeared they left the baskets to sleep elsewhere, but they were always singing at the top of their minuscule lungs.......some place in the garden.

These pictures with the trees dressed in Spring green were taken in the garden last year.

Above is one of the same pair taken in my kitchen window box a few days ago (through the window screen so a bit blurry). Together with its mate, the pair spent several hours flying back and forth, twig, skeleton oak leaf, fine twirly dried root, each held tightly and placed securely into a tiny space nestled between a mini conifer and yellow pansies. By mid-afternoon, the nest looked almost complete. What busy and brave little birds. To build a safe home to raise their family took planning and a lot of work. They didn't need a mansion, nothing fancy to show off to the neighbors, just a small warm house to nest in, safe and sound.

If all works according to plan, I'll be telling you about tiny eggs, loving parents, the amazing cleanliness of a wren's nest, and that thrilling, but somewhat sad, sunny Spring morning when fledglings leave.

Empty Nesters.......

Yesterday afternoon and evening, up until dusk, Mr. & Mrs. Wren kept up a steady supply of food and vocal instruction....................a sure sign that it was time for the babes to get ready to fly........or at least flutter.......from that planter by the front door! I spent several hours at the dining room window and even seated on the porch for a while, armed with the camera, wishing I had a better one with a good lens, and no glass in my windows! By nightfall I had decided those babes were definitely going to fledge this morning - they were sticking way out of the nest when the parents flew in with bugs and seeds from the feeder hanging out front.

Pictures below taken as they flew back and forth continuously for hours yesterday...................parenting skills of the highest order, a mom and dad so caring of their young. Sometimes he would just sit on a branch and keep watch, singing jubilantly for fifteen minutes, as she gathered food from the lawn and walkway, bringing it to the nest overflowing with cheeping babes. Then he would go to the feeder, pick a tiny seed and bring it over. Needless to say I didn't get much done yesterday, other than watch 'my little family'. I'm such a softy when it comes to birds in my garden.

I set the alarm clock for 6:15 AM because I know the wren babies fledge early in the day. A perfect morning for flight - brilliant sunshine, warm and calm. Coffee in hand, I sat at the dining room window and by 6:30 AM breakfast service began along with much calling, singing and chirping. Then, while dad sat on his same branch calling, mom sat above the nest on the flag pole and proceeded to fluff and preen her feathers, almost as if giving the babes their first lesson in personal hygiene, and perhaps showing them how to prepare for flight. At 7:00 AM number one fluttered out of the nest directly into the hydrangea bush below the porch rail - that's when I called for dh to hurry. Then number two popped out onto the cushion of a wicker chair, down to the porch and into the same bush. Number three gave us a scare, fluttered into the water filled fountain but immediately hopped out and joined the others - I was ready to run out to perform a rescue thinking it would drown. Then four followed into the bush..........................and there was no five unless we missed it, the whole process took less than a minute, when they go they go fast.

One by one the babies then followed the parents across the front steps, through another flower bed and here I leaned out of my bedroom window and managed to snap these somewhat fuzzy pics of some of the babes. Wren babes have little stubby tails which grow into those cute long perky ones.

Above, two babes following their parents to a safe place. Below, the last one, "hurry up, they're waiting for you".

Here it is now 9:00AM and I hear and see the parents in my side garden, singing instructions and teaching life's little lessons. The cheeping babes are audible however I can't see them and don't want to go outside and disturb this lovely moment Nature has allowed me to share.

I'm now an empty nester again. We can come and go through the front door.........and let the storm door slam! Today I can take back the porch.......clean it up for Spring.......have a cup of afternoon tea out there.......go shopping for Boston ferns to fill the empty hanging baskets........and pray that this new little family will survive to grow into adorable wrens, the tiny, cute, perky birds with the amazing big voices.

Visitors at My Front Door

She's such a tiny bird....................but what an amazing one.

Here she sat a few days ago in my back garden, enjoying the Spring sunshine and singing loudly from her large repertoire of songs.

This Carolina Wren has made a permanent home on my front porch since late September of last year. She apparently found the perfect nighttime roost in a corner of the porch ceiling, arriving there each evening at dusk and sleeping until the light of dawn. I know because I set my alarm on a couple of occasions just to be at the window to watch her wake, stretch, and fly away as the first rays of sun touched the porch!

When I left for England in mid October I said goodbye never expecting to arrive home two weeks later and find her still there. In December, when darkness fell earlier and the nights turned much colder, she decided to try a new boudoir, a porch hanging basket complete with a fast dying Boston Fern. Each evening she announced her arrival by singing loudly while perched on a metal obelisk in the flower bed, then flying to a wicker chair and actually looking into the dining room - then she'd fly up into the fern for the night. On a couple of occasions I actually saw two Wrens get in that plant at night - guess love was already in bloom on those cold nights!Needless to say, the dead plant has hung brown and crisp, all Winter, I just couldn't take it down.

A few weeks ago I noticed the faux flowers in the wall planter were in disarray and while working a little floral design magic I spied the beginnings of the nest. I knew it was a wren's nest as they usually build one in the kitchen window box. Watching, I soon saw the male coming and going with twigs, grass and leaves. A male wren starts to build several nests in different locations then takes his mate on a tour, like going on the Parade of Homes, and she inspects each one. Of course the gal always gets to choose when something as important as a home for her babes is at stake, right? The tiny mom-to-be then finishes the nest building, lining a small depression at the back of the cavity with pine needles, grass and soft bits and pieces to cushion her eggs. I'm amazed, and thrilled, that she picked this nest so close to where we come and go all day long - guess she trusts us and thinks we're good landlords after spending six months rent free on our porch! The nest is deep and one has to glance in at an angle. On Easter Sunday I looked in too fast not knowing she was there and scared her, she flew out and there inside were two teeny tiny speckled eggs. Today I can make out three and as they usually lay 4-6 there may be more within the next couple of days.

Guess the Winter floral display will not be changed to something a little more Springy for a while - so the holly spray will have to stay!

Below is a closeup of the nest - as you can see the entrance is somewhat sideways and mom and her eggs are way back to the left. I love these Wrens because they are fastidious in their nesting habits - I know from watching the kitchen window box families from other years. Sometimes dad takes over feeding the first brood while mom renests - having 2 and sometimes 3 broods a year. When the babies fly off and the nest is finished with, it is spotlessly clean - much different from the finches who leave their nests so dirty!

This photo is the Carolina Wren from the Birds of the Carolinas Field Guide by Stan Tekiela - a little book I refer to often when learning about the beautiful birds visiting my garden.

Hopefully we'll have a new family at the front door in a few weeks - I'll keep you up to date on the happenings and perhaps will be able to get a photo of the fledglings to share.