Being Welcomed Home. . . . . . . . .

We flew in from Dublin to Philadelphia Wednesday evening - a smooth 71/2 hour
crossing of the pond, done so many times now I've lost count - then a short flight
 to Raleigh.
It started to rain as we made our way home by taxi, but rain is what we are so used
 to after almost daily showers and the somewhat foreboding low cloud cover daily.
Ireland's weather is not for lovers of warmth, balmy sunshine, dry days and
 clear blue skies. Here it is halfway through June and no sign of days when one
 can leave off the hooded rain jacket and not stuff the collapsible umbrella into
 bag or pocket.

Ireland is beautiful, greener than any other place on earth perhaps.
 More on all that and the loveliness of the countryside, the towns, even
 the cities of Dublin and Belfast, soon. The trip was certainly a busy one
and we saw/did so much as always. 

So this is front porch, as usual a surprising little space. Arriving home to noisy
 squawking as we unlocked the front door, we realized the House wrens were
 back with a second brood of young in the same hanging box!

You know how much I love our garden birds, gosh sometimes I feel we spend
 more money feeding them than ourselves! We have never encouraged this particular 
tiny bird as they can be very mean to other nesting birds - pecking their eggs
 to destroy them, even flinging newly-hatched babies out of a nest and taking over
 their space.

The above photos I took this morning (pardon my dirty dining room windows) as the
 parents were back and forth feeding their new brood.
Note the long twig protruding from the entrance hole. The parent is apparently
 using it for balance. I read that this particular bird does often leave one twig
like this after building its nest, so I guess that's the reason why.

These earlier photos were taken the morning we were leaving for Ireland and this

 is actually a baby wren, one of five, we saw fledge all within a few minutes - great

 timing and really quite exciting to view.

Certainly didn't expect them to return to the same place even though it's usual

for them to have two broods each spring. Guess they liked their accommodation!

This decorative box has actually hung here at least three years and this is first time 

it has been used by any bird.

Not to be mistaken for the quieter, better behaved Carolina wren, the House wren 

though similar in size and coloring, does not have the white stripe over the eye so

is easy to identify. Their brash chirping is quite annoying and nowhere near as 

sweet as the songs of the Carolina wren.

Once again I've arrived home feeling under the weather - a miserable cold/cough

which hopefully is not another bout of what we now call "the European travel bug",

that one which hangs on for weeks and drags one down. Last day in Dublin I felt

 something was going on so started taking meds which obviously didn't work.  

At least I can't blame the recycled air on the plane this time.

Hope to catch up with everyone soon. . . . . good to be home.