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.

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!

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!

Strange Doings at Bird Bottle

Nesting season ended many months ago, didn't it?  Yes.  And birds really don't care much about nesting materials here in November?  You would think so.  But there are very strange doings at the Williamsburg "bird bottle" nearly halfway to winter.  I have noticed over the past week that the bottle was being stuffed with pine needles and other material.  At first I thought I was imagining the increase.  Then today, the bottle was completely emptied.  And all the material vanished, utterly.  Not just fell to the driveway.  Vanished altogether.  So what is going on in this too-often-neglected structure?  Nutty birds?  some kind of weird bird turf war?  I will keep my eye up there but no suspects are on my list.  This kind of thing makes fall so interesting!

Reflections on a Bird Bottle

Coming home today, my eyes were drawn as they always are to my Colonial Williamsburg "bird bottle."  We've had this thing for five seasons and it has mesmerized me into hopes each year that some bird----SOME bird----will use it.  It happened once, the year I affixed it to the house.  But those Carolina Wrens never repeated their use nor has any other bird done the same.  So that's one use out of perhaps fifteen available nesting windows.  I know the location worked once.  I know these bottles do draw birds (having seen plenty of evidence at Colonial Williamsburg itself.) But ... it ... doesn't ... work ... here.  Arggh!  And yes, I will probably look up, hopefully, next spring.  But for now I am sure this is now just an interesting decoration.  We shall see.

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.

Bottle Goes Bust in 2012

Five years. One success.  That's the sad reality for my Colonial Williamsburg "bird bottle".  Only last year, the first year actually being affixed to the house, was this nest space taken -- as expected, by Carolina Wrens.  But 2012 was a different story.  At this time last year we had hatchlings.  So far this year, no nest at all, and no obvious signs of interest.  One never really knows what appeals to the birds.  I thought the combination of shady corner, protection from weather, and height would be a regular hit.  Hah!  But hope springs eternal.  Just maybe, next year...

Wrens Up to Usual Summer Tricks

Yes indeed.  As the weather gets quite warm in late spring, the wrens begin their annual drive to annoy me by poking around the garage whenever they find an open door.  Of course, in actuality, they are looking for a nest location that is warm, but more hospitable than in open sun.  And every year they seem to think a shelf in the garage fits the bill.  I have caught the little devils twice already.  Happily, I have given them a pretty good alternative that wrens actually used last summer.  My Williamsburg Bird Bottle was relocated to a shady corner above the garage, and for once, last summer, it did its job.  I am hoping the wrens make the same decision this year, but it obviously will take a little longer for the birds to elect their fallback position.  So the Bird Bottle watch is underway...