The Antics of the Wrens

Before we left for our trip to Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod…we had guests. Family arrived from Japan, Virginia, Florida and locally and had their feet under our table. But…there were new guests that moved outside our kitchen window. Which began the antics of the wrens…or wren’s nest to be more specific.

Now if you know me, you know that I have always added fake birds nests with eggs to my front porch wreaths to prevent disturbed Mama birds from flying inside when the door is opened.

This year? The new birds in town failed to see the no occupancy sign, forcing me to take down the wreath before much “nesting” or “nest building” was in full swing.

Then began the wrens nest antics…

You see, I was overwhelmed, overloaded, and overstimulated with a house full of guests from Japan and Virginia…10 to be exact…for a week.

A large window had been ordered to replace our kitchen windows above the sink…and sat on the screened porch awaiting our contractor’s squeeze into his schedule to install.

And then it began.

I barely noticed.

A mess of nest making shrapnel began to hang on the outside ledge of one of the kitchen windows. I had not time to make the location undesirable and start a relocation program for the sake of mama and babies alike.

This was the view of the nest building from the inside of the kitchen window…

There were other gatherings with lots more feet under my table visiting to see the newest addition to our family.

So, building on the mom and dad wrens continued. Long billed wrens were identified by their photos.

In the push out the door for our trip, we had no time or energy to think about the wren nest building.

And then we returned home..

Full on wren nest in view. High above the hydrangea.

Turning on the light over the sink created the loudest strut of papa or mama–(who knows which since both are involved in the nest building and baby event)– wren chirping and pacing across the outside window ledge. You can forget cleaning the outside of that window, too, by the way.

Antics for sure. Mama sitting in the nest. Dad bringing food.

And that wren’s nest? I am not sure how it was hanging in there amidst the motion and commotion of the nest building, egg laying, egg sitting, and finally baby bird arrival.

And then babies arrived.

I had noticed that there was more scurry of feeding deliveries to the nest throughout the day. I watched what appeared to be more tiny worms and insects in bills which prompted me to research what they ate. Primarily insects was what I found. I’m sure there are plenty in our yard.

With my great nieces arrival, and with phone camera in hand, they proclaimed baby mouths open for mom’s feeding. Photo compliments of Jude who got this one!

On the same day that the babies were confirmed…arrived the contractor.

What a dilemma…

If you know the difficulty of being fitted into a contractor’s schedule? You know the predicament.

Upstairs they went for the first two windows replaced on today’s agenda. Upstairs windows now complete.

Plans to move onto building a scaffolding for the kitchen replacement brought anxiety.

Do we reschedule?

Do we move the new birdhouse close by for the wren nest relocation program? Ugh. Possibly remounting it in the corner behind the current nest. But, would they leave this location completely…and leave the babies behind? More consternation.

To quote one great niece, “you don’t want to be responsible for the death of baby birds”! Add those sweet sentiments among the mix.

But, when would those birds fledge? and leave the nest?

In researching I learned that wrens sit on eggs for 12-18 days…and then it takes another couple of weeks for them to fledge.

So, seriously…since they were so deeply inside the nest…how long had they been hatched?

When would they fledge? Since my schedule had caused me to not be as observant on where we were in the nest building, egg laying, bird hatching process, I was clueless.

Honestly, that new kitchen window had been nestled on the back porch awaiting installation for two months…

As the contractor sauntered into the kitchen and peered through the window…he proclaimed awaiting installation the thing to do.

Problem solved.

So, now we wait…

We wait for wren antics to continue. Squawking to be a norm. Lights out above the sink…nest. As little movement at the kitchen sink as possible. Including the repotting of the fern that’s providing a barrier.

Longingly we await the ability to clean the outside of the window…or maybe just wait for the new window installation. Determined by the “fit” back into the contractor’s schedule, right?

Mom delivering food to little ones deep inside the nest and a pacing, chirping Papa peering deeply to see if we are on the inside of the window.

The price to pay to have front row seats through the glass for all of the wren activity this time of year.

I’ll take it.

In case you need front row seats, you can join me for all the wren antics.

Meanwhile, we wait patiently amid the continuing banter between human and bird…and park our chairs and quietly await them leaving the nest.

So far, seated with feet under my screened porch table, the wren focus still appears to be watching through the glass. Perhaps the hydrangea blooms are keeping me hidden for now.

Be watching. I’ll try to keep you in the loop…or window ledge as life would have it.

And if you have your feet under our table the next few weeks, either inside or on the screened porch, low soft music will probably be replaced by the loud chirping of wrens.

P.S. No wrens were harmed in the making of this blog post…lol…

All the Best, friends,