| 080 | House Wrens | 2009-05-08 |
Throughout the winter we were fortunate to have a pair of cardinals that lived near our house and took turns spending the night by the front porch light bulb. Each night we checked to see which bird (the male or female) was perched in our entry porch. They don’t spend the night by the bulb any longer but we still see them in the yard - or birds that we think are them.
This spring we have new guests, house wrens or this particular pair would more aptly be called garage wrens. They have nested in the back room of our garage. To enter the garage, they hop under a door and fly back to the nest which is located in an old Joe Brown (JB) climbing helmet hanging from the wall in the back room.
I had seen the wrens going in and out of the garage and my wife and I discussed what to do. We could have sealed the entry so they would not have been able to enter the garage, but what harm could they do. At worst we would have to clean up a little bodily discharges. We let the nest be.
Yesterday I was in the garage attempting to sort through some gear stored in the garage. One of the wrens met me at the door and noisily protested my arrival. As I walked toward the back room he even swooped by me, causing me to duck. Something was happening.
I looked around and saw there was plenty of action. The fledglings were trying to fly. They hopped extremely well, but their wings just didn’t seem to have what it took to lift them beyond an assisted jump. Little balls of feathery down bounced around the room as they attempted flight.
Meanwhile mom and dad were urging them to come outside the garage and to beware of the big guy with the camera.
When Amy got home she went into the garage and made peep sounds. The birds responded. In fact they carried on a whole conversation the best I could tell. I personally don’t speak wren, I am better talking to bullfrogs and dogs.
So we welcome our new friends. May they live a long and prosperous life in and around our yard. We hope they catch lots of mosquitoes and other bugs and invite all their friends over for dinner.