Spring is always such a fleeting season here in Virginia… winter seems to drag on forever, and then suddenly the mornings are no longer frost-covered and the new leaves and flowers start to open… and then if you blink you miss spring all together! The trees have been fully leafed out for a few weeks and the grass is almost ready for the first hay cutting. And now the weather is quickly turning as hot as summer!
It's about this time every year one of my favorite things (if I can have a favorite thing about the ending of spring!) happens—the first brood of baby wrens leave their nest! And if I'm lucky enough, I get to see them as they go. This time I was extra lucky and got some photos to share with you!
For this year's nesting site, the parent wrens chose an open bag of potting soil—bags of some kind seem to always be their top choice.
Here's one of the little cuties preparing to make the jump. At this point they still can't fly, but their wings do help them to make pretty big hops. Once they started moving it was very hard to keep the camera on them.
One last nap before leaving home!
It's always fascinating to see how attentive the parents are—watching and calling to each fledgling, coaxing them along. There were 6 fledglings in this brood and both parents worked to make sure they all moved out of the nest safely.
This one was the last to leave. I love the little tufts of down still on their heads. So cute!
In just a short while these wrens will be flying and singing in the treetops!
Wow!! how totally beautiful, and how lucky you are, Wren's are incredibly shy aren't they? so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYour weather sounds very similar to the UK, I feel like we barely had a Spring and now the temperatures are creeping up to Summer temps
I really was so lucky! :-) Here wrens are probably the most bold of all the wild birds… they often build their nests on the front porch or deck and aren't afraid to scold any human or animal who gets to close to their babies. In the winter they gather on the back deck for scraps of meat that I put out for them… they prefer that over seeds.
DeleteThanks for this post! What great pictures. I never get to see that view of birds. I only have barn swallows that swoop dangerously close to my head any time I am near the nest (which they have helpfully built above my garage!) I don't blame them, though. They are only protecting their babies. They don't know I'm harmless. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat great pictures and how lucky you are to have the yearly visitors. I do find it amusing that they tend to choose open bags. Kinda makes you wonder just what they did before we started to leave bags all over the place.
ReplyDeleteThat is so wonderful!! You know I love birds and this is such a beautiful post showing these lovely little Wrens!! Thanks for sharing Rebekah!
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