Sharing homes in the bird world. . . . . .

The House wren - our latest Home Sweet Home tenant

This was a surprise on our return home! The little painted birdhouse hanging 

on the front porch, a sweet gift from my neighbor last year, has become a very 

popular home for our smallest garden birds.

It first housed the Carolina wrens last Spring, then early this Spring a pair of 

chickadees built a nest and raised a family - those babies must have fledged 

whilst we were in Europe.

Now we have new tenants, the House wrens (above) - a wee bit smaller than

the Carolina wren, all brown, and without the white 'eyebrow'.

This Carolina wren nested here last year, the first tenant

One of the pair of Black-capped chickadees on the porch early this Spring - they nested 

and raised a family in the little birdhouse

I've tried to see inside the house but this little bird squawks at me! 

I did hold my camera up when it was gone, but could only see a blur of twigs and 

such - not certain there are any eggs yet.  

The pressing question for me is - are these three birds using the same nest or has 

each one cleaned it out and started over? 

I did see the chickadees bring twigs back in April but have never seen birds 

taking nesting materials out. There is no way to open the house and

it just has that one small entry hole.

Are you enjoying your garden birds now Spring is here?

Don't you find their habits quite mesmerizing?

Just thinking about nesting. . . . . . . . . .

With the official first day of Spring now here. . . . .I've been thinking.

Mostly about the garden which requires a lot of sprucing up and TLC, and 

about the bird population which seems to be ever increasing around here.

It's a good thing! 

I need to start dragging home large bags of mulch to replenish the sad looking beds.

The sun has just popped out so it may be a good afternoon for a garden center

visit - with the temperature due to hit mid-60's.

Will there soon be more tulips?  This is the first and probably an old bulb, 

the stem and leaves are very short. Last Fall's planting are all in large pots 

and just coming up. . . . . . I hope they will be tall and strong, able to wave 

to passersby in the March winds.

Does my year-round robin, sitting in the fig tree, and whom I now think is a 

female, have a gentleman caller at long last? Is she playing hard to get? 

Will there be a nest construction project in the near future?

Note the suet cage on the ground - each time we fill it some animal, probably 

a raccoon, takes it down, opens it up, and has a greasy midnight meal.

Our woodpeckers are getting really upset!

Talking of nesting - will our longtime porch-living wren family be building again this Spring? 

I've already seen one checking the window box but still too cold and a bit early perhaps 

to start on construction.

My lovely blog friend Deb at Just Cats in still really snowy/chilly Ontario, Canada, 

has a great idea which I must share, and will be doing too as I already 

have the suet cage. Hopefully raccoons will steer clear!

She fills her cage with leftover scraps of yarn cut into 2" pieces, and even cat hair from 

her beautiful kitties - all of which nest building birds will pull out and use. 

Other bloggers, in their comments to Deb, also share the bits and bobs they 

put out for their birds, including lace. 

How lovely is that, a tiny bird weaving delicate lace through a twiggy nest.

 I usually tuck chunks of dryer lint into places on the front porch, and will be starting 

this again after my next laundry load - I have seen the lint used in the nests in our garden.

Hyacinths are late blooming this year too.  These will be pink and pretty, but blue

are my favorite - perhaps I can find some at the garden center for the dining room table 

Easter vignette. I love their fragrance

The white rabbits are ready, out of storage, and waiting for their place in the sun, and 

with Easter coming early I must stop thinking and get to work.

So dear friends, a very happy beginning of springtime. 

May your days get warmer, your blossoms bloom, your birds find mates, 

build pretty nests, sing early in the morning to start your day joyfully,

(notice how much louder they are singing now),

 and the real bunnies stay away from your lettuce!