Carolina Wren Update

As readers know, the Carolina Wrens made quite a splash this summer.  They made the nesting story of the season by raising two broods in our bird bottle.  Those two broods have been growing up quickly and the wrens are seemingly everywhere.  I think they have been losing the battle at the suet feeders (to catbirds!) but have dominated at the exterminator role, clearing our deck quite effectively!  This species is well prepared for the winter and a good nesting season in 2015.

The Big Fledge

Hello friends! I am back at post and observing what's out there.  And what was out there this past Sunday was a fledge at the Colonial Williamsburg Bird Bottle.  The Carolina Wrens had a second brood there and #2 entered the world.  I regret that I did not witness the youngs' departure, but I saw mother in the morning in the doorway and nothing---and abandoned bottle---by end of day.  It was a thrill seeing the bottle get such good use!  I hope to see the new additions around the yard!

Watching... Waiting...

The drama at the Williamsburg Bird Bottle is reaching its climax.  There is a definite active nest (for the second time in 2014!) and I know there is at least one hatchling.  The wrens have been very active flying to and from the bottle, no doubt in search of food for a hungry young occupant.  This has gone on for some days.  And I expect an imminent fledge.  But when?  I believe I witnessed the earlier one in the spring.  But there is a high probability I will miss another.  No matter.  It has been a thrill to see it occur and know that the bottle was a hit this year.

Note to readers: I will be off line for the coming week.  See you all after the 20th!

Bird Bottle Second Brood Still Going Strong

Call me crazy but I am excited to see a second nest coming along in our Williamsburg Bird Bottle.  This unique nest site has drawn Carolina Wrens twice this year, and that is a first.  I can confirm sighting an exiting bird at several points across the last two weeks.  It took a few years to learn how to position the bottle for proper effect, and at last the wrens---my only real target--responded.  Once last year, and twice in 2014.  They seem to like the height (well above the garage door) and in its shady corner on the north face of the house.  They would prefer nesting inside the garage, but that has been strongly discouraged, so this works out as a decent #2!  We should see results soon.  It will be late to have a fledge too deep into July.

Ever-Clever Wrens

During the "Grackle Blackout" I have let the feeders empty themselves, although one suet feeder remained full.  And that's because the birds didn't get the concept behind this suet feeder that is only accessible to birds which do not mind hanging upside down.  Eventually, I figured, one of them would clue in and the feast would begin.  And today I caught a quick shot of a wren doing exactly that.  Around here, once one bird gets a good idea others follow.  But this feeder will remain off limits to a cadre of birds.  Grackles, for one.   So perhaps the wrens will enjoy their success for a long time!

Wrens Using Bird Bottle For a Second Time

So it will be twice.  The Carolina Wrens (same pair?) are back in the Colonial Williamsburg Bird Bottle hanging over our garage door.  I've finally seen evidence that there is a new nest in progress and that birds are moving in and out of the bottle.  That's great news because I have had on- and off- results at this unusual nesting structure for five years and this would be the first time (fingers crossed) two active nests occurred in one season.  But we have a ways to go before I can make great claims.  For now, it's going to be fun to watch and I hope the wrens are successful!

Back to the Garage

The thing with Carolina Wrens is that once they get an idea in their heads, it doesn't seem to come out.  Case in point: a pair of Carolina Wrens, dissuaded from nest-building in our garage in March, upon completing first brood went right back to nest-building there.  No matter that they had a perfectly satisfactory experience with our Williamsburg "bird bottle", or that the same large biped expressed displeasure with the garage plans.  The side shelf seems to be an irresistible attractant.  So now, for at least a couple more weeks I must be vigilant to the wrens whenever the door is open.  That's not a lot of fun!

A Bumpy Fledge

This morning brought a most pleasant surprise!  I was present to see the fledge of two Carolina Wrens from the seemingly infamous Williamsburg "Bird Bottle".  But the first flight had its surprises.  One bird dropped and bumped off the garage wall to the part of the yard to my west.  Good enough.  But youngster #2 flopped into the open garage and promptly disappeared into its dark recesses.  The parents watched warily for a time and disappeared.  Only after about a quarter hour was I able to locate the fledgling and induce it to move into the outside world.  And that happened, with a happy result.  Two more wrens are on the premises and the bird bottle is definitely redeemed!  You can't beat that!

Still Up There

Another weekend has slipped by and I'm delighted to see that our Carolina Wren tenants are still in place at the Williamsburg "bird bottle".  At least, I continue to see bird traffic to and from the bottle.  As far as my records show this is only the second time that the wrens have gotten this far with a nest effort at that bottle, a structure that has stymied me for years.  At least I know the wrens basically like the concept: over the garage, in a shady corner, too high to be interrupted.  I expect action soon, even in a few weeks when a fledgling or two may emerge.  I don't heard sounds yet, so that will be my market that something interesting has happened.  I keep watching...

My Patience is Ever Rewarded

It seems that a pair of Carolina Wrens, thwarted in their efforts to build a nest in our garage, settled this week on using my five year old Williamsburg "Bird Bottle".  The bottle has acquired a collection of light plant materials and I observed wrens flying back and forth to the bottle location.  As you can imagine, I am delighted.  I have struggled with this nesting location for its entire history and only once has a fledge come out of it.  Whether they stay with this nest site or not remains to be seen.  It is noteworthy that the season has been colder than normal and perhaps that played into the birds' decision.  For now, my patience has been rewarded, as it was before.  Let's see what happens!

Getting Feisty

Another sign of spring, for me, is histrionics.  That would be the histrionics raised by Carolina Wrens.  These birds are territorial all year but get especially feisty and aggressive as we enter spring.  And they include me among their targets of displeasure.  Just the act of filling a bird bath today set off one pair that hissed, scolded and flew about branch to branch.  It's perfectly okay: I don't take it too personally, even if I am providing extra food and water in tough times!  Their little hormones are firing and everything is a problem.  So soon they will nest and maybe even on the property.  We shall see.  I want this one to be worth it!

Restless Wrens

It really doesn't matter what time of year it may be.  Whatever month -- wrens will be busy defending their territory.  We have a highly vigilant family group that mainly patrols our deck and environs.  This territory includes a fine set of feeders, cover, and presumably a wealth of insects and spiders.  And the railings make for a very fine perch to find other wrens.  While not defending turf the wrens are busy providing exterminator services and doing whatever wrens do to occupy their day.  It is a great deal of fun to watch!

Pesky Garage Snoops

There are two kinds of beings that seem instinctively drawn to my garage.  I am one, perhaps know throughout the neighborhood as the guy-who-sits-just-inside-the-garage-and-watches-birds.  The other are wrens.  They like to investigate the garage in the spring as the ideal cave in which to build a nest.  This is pesky enough behavior because two wrens can build an impressive structure in very little time.  But lately one or more have taken to flying in and poking about even here in late fall.  It defeats my understanding what they are up to this time.  Catching spiders? no chance.  It may just be pure curiosity.  But it drives me nuts to go out there so often and discover one of these little fuzzballs sitting on a shovel or door support or whatever.  Birds are tough to understand.  And every so often they give me a new puzzle like this to solve.

Wren Update

Those easily overlooked but eminently watchable Carolina Wrens continue to be a major presence on the property.  They are everywhere!  And this is a good thing because I am convinced that they scour the deck of any number of pesky arthropods.  I know the spiders are taking a beating, but more importantly so are the insects that annoy the dickens out of me every summer.  Our wrens may not have nested on site but they did do well and it seems like there's a wren everywhere turn.  And that is a good thing, for they entertain me as no other bird does, hopping about and fussing at the least little thing.  The rest of the year should be a delight.  Bless you, little devils.

Another Try at the Bottle, Perhaps

Will the madness ever end?  It seems my pesky little friends the Carolina Wrens are set on vexing me again with a maybe-it-is-maybe-it-isn't nest in the Colonial Williamsburg bird bottle just over the garage.  They started a nest earlier this season, abandoned it, and some other bird cleaned it out.  Now the wren-ish debris is back in and I wonder if this is a real project or a con job.  All we can do is watch and wait.  This had better be real!

Mind Games

Those darn Carolina Wrens are playing games with my mind.  How?  At one stroke, they (I assume) cleaned out the bird bottle over the garage: there's a small pile of vegetation scraps below.  And the bottle looks empty.  This would assume someone wants to fit the thing out in their style.  But at the same time I have been catching wrens poking around the interior of the garage as they do every year.  So what is it? bottle or not?  This could get interesting.  I will win the garage battle simply by closing the door more frequently.  Will they accept the bird bottle---my perennial too-often-loser nest option?  We shall see.

Probably a Dud

The Colonial Williamsburg "bird bottle" is stuffed with nesting material.  Wrens have used it before (summer 2011.)  But are they actually using it?  Maybe not.  I have kept my eye on the bottle for two weeks and have seen absolutely no activity whatsoever.  I suspect we may have a dud here.  If true, the wrens either aborted their attempt: spooked by something.  Or, this was one of several demonstration models rejected by the prospective female tenant.  I may have to go up and clean the thing out if it is to be used this summer.  But patience is called for.  Maybe, just maybe something interesting will happen!

Bird Bottle, and Wrens, Again

For several years now I have been doing my utmost to attract birds to a Colonial Williamsburg-style "bird bottle" with varying results.   We saw considerable success in 2011 when a family of Carolina Wrens took up nesting.  Then, nothing at all last year.  But the wrens are back.  Their messy shove-debris-into-the-hole style of nesting is showing clearly even though I have yet to see a bird making the transit to the bottle.  That will come.  They have clearly been attracted to the warm, yet shady spot above the garage door and do not seem perturbed by the occasional movement of the door below.  For my part, I'm simply glad the rascals are using this unusual nesting space.  We shall see what comes.

Aw Nuts.

Peanuts keep moving here at the land of Cary BirdCam, and it's almost time to replenish the stock, for I think, the third time this winter.  But it is a surprisingly small group of birds that have formed the moving crew.  From top of the month photography, I've observed all three of the winter nuthatches (Red Breasted, White Breasted, and Brown Headed), and the rest of the usual suspects (chickadees, titmice, wrens, and Downy Woodpeckers).  So far at least no others have stopped by except out of curiosity.  And blessed be, there are no squirrels in sight either.  Hence we have a relatively economical attractant for some of the most interesting small birds in the area!  Consider adding peanuts! but make sure they are squirrel-safe: two layers of steel might do the trick.  You won't regret the results!

The Wren Never Rests

It does seem that the doughty little Carolina Wren never rests.  The bird is a perfect whirlwind of activity around here.  They probe, hop, sing, poke, gouge, flip, and perform a dozen more motions besides.  They check every feeder.  The check every corner of the deck.  And they even find time to peer through the windows and give us the furry eyeball.  But I never see them stop and rest, much.  Such interesting creatures!  And besides the entertainment value I know they're cleaning out a bucketload of insects I'd care not to deal with.  We simply love 'em!