The house wren is a special bird for me. It is the first bird where I purposefully tried to identify the bird by its song. Yes, we did know the song of the cardinal and robin, but this was different. It was a real attempt to learn new birds by song. It was not easy!A couple of years ago I saw a nesting box for wrens so I took the "if you build it they will come" approach - and it worked. I had a wren around the yard and something nesting in the box - just not the wren.
But this year the wren was back. And she built a nest, a crooked nest at that, in my Christmas wreath. Yes, I was going to take it down when Spring came, but then it was cold so I left it up. I noticed some pieces of the lily leaves from last year on the porch and as I was cleaning up the dead plants, I saw it. A nest. First I thought maybe it was a house finch - they have nested on my front door in the past. But then I saw her - a beautiful little wren. She built her nest in my wreath on the front door. I was surprised as they are very shy and I do have three dogs that run past that door many times a day, not to mention just lounging on the porch. Apparently they do not bother her.
I am so looking forward to seeing if there are eggs and then watching to see when they hatch. However, her nest is just a little bit high for me to see inside and I now want to give her some peace and quiet so I do not use that door. I have also re-routed the dogs so they do not startle her too often.
This is her crooked little nest in the Christmas wreath.
Every time I approach the door to go outside she flies off her nest. We have one at right angles from this door that leads from the atrium that we use rather than the front door even without a nest.
An empty nest and no chirping sounds. So no little ones at this point.
I was determined to get a picture of her on the nest but every time I was by the door off she flew. And when I had a camera she was even more skittish. So after many attempts and much patience, I got some of her through the glass door but you can still tell it is a wren. She is a pretty little bird, peering out from her nest.
Having a little more light made a big difference. This was taken with the morning light shining towards the door - it is always in shadow. But there she is, probably trying to decide to stay of fly. I got one picture and that was it.
And then she flew. Lucky shot! We are all staying away from the door so she can keep her eggs warm. I am guessing there are eggs as she spends a lot of time now on the nest. She very much is a welcome visitor to my home!
The gardens are doing very well. A lot of rain this past week and they are growing tall. Here are a few pictures of several flowers and plants. I hope you enjoy them.
Periwinkles.
Quince.
Johnny jump-ups.
Azaleas.
Daffodil. Not as many as I had hoped for this year. Guess you know what I will need to do in the Fall!
Rhododendron in bud.
Every garden has a dandelion or two!
There used to be two huge bleeding heart plants on either side of hte waklway. Not I have only this one little one.
Fionnegan and Gunnarr are two happy dogs and always keeping an eye on me! They are good and do stay behind the gate whenever I need to go back and forth.
Shorty likes to sit in the driveway and keep an eye on everyone and everything. He always knows where I am and keeps an eye on me as I work or take pictures.
Fionnegan.
Gunnarr - still camera shy.
The end. Something good to sniff along the fence.
I do hope you all are well during these challenging days. But we will get through them.
Please stay well.
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