Wrens Choose a House
Sunday, May 21, 2017 at 5:45PM Honey, look at this real estate ad: Old house, needs work.
In good neighborhood. Mature trees and shrubs. Lots of straw and nesting materials.
Here it is. I'll check it out:
Hey, it has both a front and back door! Great access and ventilation for babies!
I'm going in.
Definitely needs work, but overall it looks great!
Time to get busy!
The other day I was walking in the woodland garden when a couple of wrens caught my attention. They were busy refurbishing an old birdhouse. Because it has a hole in the roof, I thought birds would reject it, but this industrious couple were making it perfect for a new brood. I watched for a while, taking photos. The birds were not bothered by my nearness. I tried to catch both birds in action, in the same shot. One would go in the hole in the roof, then the other would come out the main entrance. Sigh. I never did get the perfect picture, but it was fun watching them!
This wasn't the first time this old house had a makeover! You may enjoy my previous post, Easy Birdhouse Renovation.
Reader Comments (15)
I enjoy all of your posts but today's was particularly nice because I adore wrens! And they build in the most unlikely places like in the newspaper slot under our mailbox. Every year, at least once, we find building materials there although they never seem to actually nest there. Your birdhouse with the two entrances is perfect!
Heartwarming to see them do so well!
Precious! I so enjoy watching the birds!
Mr. and Mrs. Wren need their own home renovation TV show! :)
How wonderful to have new tenants! And DIYers too!
what a nice birdhouse, I love the mossy roof. I can totally understand this young couple claiming it as their new home. Good luck to them and their youngsters.
Very cute! I once had wrens nest in the top of my propane tank, so wrens must be quite up for adventurous housing. A little brood of wrens just fledged nearby this weekend, so I love seeing all the babies scrambling about the yard. Such cute birds!
The woodland garden is a lovely spot! I can see why the wren family decided to summer there. Birds are one of the perks of gardening, aren't they?
I love this heartwarming post and that the wrens are making good use of the real estate! Enjoy them!
Deb, I have a question about your Bluets. Do they get any sun? The ones I have I dug out of a neighbors lawn that was mossy , now that I think about it, last spring. We had a bad drought last summer and only one came back. I'm wondering if it gets too much sun which is probably 4 hours or more a day. What do you think?
Hi, everyone! As always, I read and appreciate each comment! Sally, all of my bluets are in mossy, shady areas that get filtered sun. I don't think any of them get direct sun. Of course, our sunlight in Alabama is more intense than yours. It could be that your bluets are receiving too much sun, but I suspect you lost your bluet transplants due to your summer drought. Best wishes! Deb
Great photos! I have some Chickadees living in a bird house, but no wrens.
Awww. how sweet! I had a similar situation here. The back door of my birdhouse fell down into the rose bush below last fall when I was cleaning it out, and I left it there all winter, thinking it would be easier to retrieve in the spring. But the birds got to it before I did, enjoying the wide open entrance in the back instead of the small hole in the front. But this deprived me of being able to see them carrying things inside, especially photo taking!
In our previous garden we had a wren's nest in the ivy against the wall. It was a beautiful construction. They are quite handy. and probably saw your birdhouse as a nice challenge.
Oh this was a wonderful post! You have taken so many cute pictures of this busy couple. Hope all the babies survive. Your garden is a wonderful place for them to live.