Sunday, April 26, 2015

Wren House

We bought this bird bottle in Colonial Williamsburg many years ago, and hung it in a corner of the house outside the family room window.  


Over the years, a pair of birds might take an interest, but more often than not, they would abandon the bird bottle house.  Then about five or so years ago, a pair of sweet little Bewick's Wrens decided it was just what they needed.  Here they built their cozy nest and raised a brood of young.  We knew because we could sit and watch the adults fly back and forth with insects for the babies.  We could never really see the young, but if we listened closely at the right time, we could hear their tiny voices. This was tricky, because the parent wrens did not like for us to be around when they were tending their young. 

The wrens are back this year, whether the same adults or children back to their homestead, a pair are busy carrying bugs to their babies.  Today I stood on the porch with my zoom lens camera for quite a long time, trying to get the perfect photo, but the adult with a juicy caterpillar in her/his mouth would not go to the bottle house as long as I stayed outside, so I could only capture its photo as it scolded me while grasping lunch. 
I zoomed into the house to see what I could see, and I think I might be able to see two heads at the top of the inside of the bottle.

I did get a photo several years ago, with a less timid parent.  If you look closely at the photo below, you can just make out a wide open mouth at the top of the opening. 


We love our little wren family. 


Baby Wrens’ Voices

BY THOMAS R. SMITH
I am a student of wrens.
When the mother bird returns
to her brood, beak squirming
with winged breakfast, a shrill
clamor rises like jingling
from tiny, high-pitched bells.
Who’d have guessed such a small
house contained so many voices?
The sound they make is the pure sound
of life’s hunger. Who hangs our house
in the world’s branches, and listens
when we sing from our hunger?
Because I love best those songs
that shake the house of the singer,
I am a student of wrens.
Share this text ...?

14 comments:

  1. It appears that your blog site has been hacked. There is a graphic telling me to share with twitter or FB over the text I am trying to read and when I try to click on it I get sent to some non-English user site. Sorry, but thought you shoul know.

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  2. I have a bottle house exactly like yours. Probably bought it at Williamsburg, too. I can't remember for sure. Mine is stored in my garden cupboard in the garage, though. We've never installed it since moving to this "new" house in 1999. Guess I'd better get it out. Great photo of the bird with the worm!

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  3. Yes, I'm getting the same thing. Anyway, your header is breathtaking! I love it! The little Wren is one of my favorite birds. We have the tiny Carolina Wren. Your little wren house is so sweet.

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  4. Also have that annoying text. But I love the bird house.

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  5. I may have to close my blog. I think I have reported the spam link to Google, but it is hard to know what, if anything will happen next.
    Anyway, I am going away for the blogosphere for a while.
    Some of you may see me on Facebook.

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  6. Love the bird bottle! Isn't it funny how they can scold with a mouth/beak full? :)

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  7. What Tabor said...annoying little box. I wonder how you get rid of it? I like your Wren:)

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  8. Your header picture just takes my breath away every time I see it. I do hope you don't have to take your blog down. hat a nuisance, but at least I see you on FB.

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  9. I'm so sorry to see your blog has been hacked. I'm actually very angry! Those blankity blank spammers. I'm sick of them. I hope you can get this taken care of without taking down your blog.

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  10. Great pictures of the wren, Linda.

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  11. how fun, our hummingbird nest on the back patio is being used again by a small mother bird sitting on her eggs.

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  12. So very sweet! The birds, not the annoying text box!

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  13. Hi Linda, Try another post with a photo and see if that box is going to follow your every post:)

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  14. What? I'm glad you didn't leave blog space. That's weird that you have that thing that popped up. It doesn't seem to do anything though. I've never seen anything like it before.

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I would love to read your comments. Since I link most posts to Facebook, you may comment there if you do not have an account. I have eliminated Anonymous comments due to spammers.