Of Love, Families and Nest Building ~~~~~

     ~~~~~~~This morning I noticed a lot of bird activity just outside my dining room window. As I paid closer attention I realized it was a Carolina Wren couple building a nest in a container of begonias.

source - National Geographic

Looking at the container from the outside.

Last week I trimmed back the begonias because they had gotten so leggy. The whole look is not pretty now but, watching these two birds was so neat!!!!  See it sitting on the arm of the chair, with a twig. Immediately after this picture it hopped to the edge of the pot and went down out of sight in the middle.

I watched them come and go for quite a few trips. They started with small thin twigs and gradually brought larger twigs and oak leaves. He (she) is sitting on the corner of the pot holding a dry leaf. It was a very cloudy morning and with the camera zoomed and snapping through the window these are not the best pictures. These birds are monogamous and breeding pairs may stay together for years. They stay on their home territory all year long.  They have a habit of building in attractive human made spots like windowsills, mailboxes and flower pots.

See it on the corner of the pot next to the green flax lily? It is leaving to get more building material.

I love to watch the birds especially the Carolina Wrens. They scamper around low to the ground and hop more than they fly. They are small but very vocal.  Males are especially outgoing and are the only ones to produce songs. They employ one of the loudest songs per volume of any bird. They sing anytime, any place they happen to be. Oh, that us humans might flit around with happy songs all the time!

The nest building went on through the morning.  A pair always works together on the nest. Late afternoon, after not seeing any coming and going, I went out and got close enough to get this picture of the finished nest. It was empty. It is situated with the entrance on the side and the top is pretty thick. I am hoping they will survive any hard downpour if it ever rains here again!  I will just let the plant dry up instead of hand watering if need be until their little family is hatched. The other concern I have is neighborhood cats which visit in my yard every day.  I made a video through the window of their (the birds, not cats) coming and going and wanted to put it here. I downloaded it and now cannot find it anywhere!

   This little picture shows a comparison size of a Carolina Wren to a tea cup. I seem to work a tea cup into most of my posts! This picture and most of the facts are courtesy of National Geographic.  Love is in the air here - I will try to give you updates and hopefully pictures of eggs and baby birds.

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