06.25.2025 Carolina wren in her nest

 Here she is - all settled in her nest. Have not used the front door since she moved into her nest, but I do peer at her from the atrium doorway. She saw my reflection in the atrium yesterday and just stood on the porch - possibly guarding her nest. But when she does see me standing on the step by the doorway she does not fly, so today I thought I'd try a picture.  Good girl. Am anticipating the hatching of her eggs - would love to see the little ones! This nest is rather deep, so we'll see. Maybe they will be visible just before they fledge. Will keep you posted!

Until next time........

06.14.2025 Carolina Wren Nesting in Wreath

There is perhaps no one more grateful that the construction is done on the house than my boy Gunnarr, except for the Carolina wren. She has been at the house all winter and usually builds a nest in the Christmas wreath on our front door. We also found nests between the old gutters and the house. But because of the construction in the front, there was no Christmas wreath on the door and the gutters were removed as the roof line changed. 

But this Carolina wren does not miss an opportunity. Last week I hung my silk flowered Spring wreath on the door. And shortly thereafter, she started to build a nest! Interesting enough, she uses the door as part of the nest. But she has been quite busy adding one twig at a time until she has a little palace! So far, she has not been spending much time sitting there. On occasion I will see her fly out whenever I am in the atrium. I now rarely use the atrium door and will not use the front door so we don't disturb her! The nest is too deep for me to see if there are any eggs laid yet!

She is a curious bird. She frequently lands on the screen in my bedroom window early in the morning and sings to us - maybe to make sure we get up and at it!

The gardens are growing fast. We have one curious finding. For the last four or five years, there has been one pink rose in bloom next to the rhododendrons. Just one flower, no other buds. This year, the small plant has grown and it now has 10 roses in bloom and quite a few more buds!  How that rose bush landed in my garden I have no idea. But she is beautiful!  

She looks like an old fashioned rose and there is a bee feeding on the pollen. 

The boys are doing well. Gunnarr is now happier without all of the construction. But I suspect he will miss some of the attention from the workers even though he usually hid behind me when they were in the house.

Fionnegan is as friendly as it gets and he loved greeting the workmen. He got a lot of attention.

Shorty also loved the attention from the workmen. We were all lucky, none of the workers minded the morning greetings and always interacted with them. 

Yes, Fionnegan and Gunnarr had a spa date to groom them for the summer heat while Shorty and I enjoyed a walk in the woods.  The new dog park is not yet open but I am looking forward to letting Shorty in particular run without his leash. We'll see how that goes! We are only allowed two dogs at a time, so I will have to make separate trips to see how the new dog park works out for them. Fingers crossed!

And Fionnegan and Gunnarr are ready for the summer heat!

Happy Flag Day (June 14) and hope you are enjoying the end of Spring 2025!

Until next time, stay well.

06.19.2024. Baby Carolina wren birds!

 Every year a Carolina wren and her mate build a nest in the Christmas wreath that is on the front door. They usually build it on the inside curve and I can watch them build it and then see the eggs and small birds. Not this year - they built the nest on the top making it very difficult for me to see any activity.

I first knew there was a nest in progress when I found nesting materials on the front doorstep. The wreath was still very much green and hence it was still hanging on the door. If the boys - Fionnegan, Gunnarr and Shorty were on the porch, the bird sat on her nest. But if I should open the atrium door wide enough for me to exit, she would fly off her nest. So I stopped using the atrium door as it makes a right ankle with the front door and disturbs our little bird!

Her nest is nestled in the wreath. Very hard to see and this is the best I could do without disturbing her.

This is a nest from last year - easier to take a photograph.

So at the end of May her brood had fledged and I was going to take down the wreath. I had seen her with suet and flying off so I guess she was feeding this to the little ones. But I noticed new nesting materials on the front porch and sure enough she was back there incubating her eggs. So once again we did not use the atrium door and did not disturb her. Although she does seem to like to sing at 4:15 in the morning and sometimes she perches on the windowsill next to my bed! We look at each other for a moment and then she flies away. Apparently, she either does not mind disturbing my sleep or it is payback for her flying off her nest when I open the door! 

After a couple of weeks of knowing a renewed nest was there and a few days of not seeing her on the nest I thought they all must have hatched and fledged. So I lifted the wreath from the door and lo and behold there were at least three little one all crowding this little nest. So I carefully put it back on the hanger and fortunately did not disturb them too much as Momma bird came back to feed them and sit on top of the nest. Not much room Momma bird - they are getting big! I them went and put out another suet feeder for her and the baby birds.  I'll give her another week then check again. I think maybe they all fledged now but will give them all another chance to grow and mature! They are precious but there are no pictures. I opted not to stand on a ladder to photograph them as I think they are happier without me being a nuisance or a risk to the Momma not feeding the little ones. They are so cute and I do enjoy them singing early in the morning and also late in the evening. And I hope they return next year!

Carolina wren on the branch by the front door.

We also had a pair of house finches nesting in a tree near the front door. I did not want to bother them either so no pictures of them. This was also a popular for the cardinals to build their nests - must be because it is rather protected from the elements and other birds and dangers.

Do you have any birds nesting nearby your house? Are you able to watch the birds build the nest and then watch as the eggs hatch and the parents feed the little ones and then observe the birds fledge? It truly is special privilege to observe Mother nature.