Carolina wren nest

Carolina wrens build nests in all sorts of places, and quickly, too.

Carolina wren nest in the shed window box

There was a rudimentary sort of nest in one of the garden shed window boxes that I had noticed, but thought had been abandoned.

a blurry image because of the dim light!

Hmm, it proved to be in use this evening when I started to remove some senescing Violas and the mama wren whizzed past me and started loud singing nearby.

Peering in, the nest has five eggs in it.

I received a link to a wonderful video of a robin pair raising their young yesterday via a group e-mail.

Check this out.

A fussy Carolina Wren

A Carolina Wren was fussing outside the kitchen window late yesterday afternoon in the old camellia. I don't know what set him off -- maybe the neighbor's cat or even my moving around the kitchen. The squirrels have been fussing lately too -- it's practically a chorus.

Carolina Wrens are quite vocal with a musical tea-kettle, tea-kettle call, but also have a harsh, almost hissing, sound as their warning call, and many other variations, apparently. Male Carolina Wrens are the vocal ones, with females being much quieter. They maintain pairs and defend territories all year round according to All About Birds. This post about bird songs was interesting, too -- I'm going to have to look for the books about bird songs that were mentioned!

In the mountains today, it didn't take long for the nuthatches and Carolina chickadees to return to the refilled feeders. Unusually, a group of blue jays was also visiting, bobbling the hanging feeder. And, a group of squirrels was taking advantage of the spilled seeds under the feeder.