• Garden

    House Wren Family

    After the bluebird failure this spring, a pair of house wrens moved into the bluebird box on the blackberry trellis. They actually filled both bluebird boxes with nests but only laid eggs in one, which I later learned is common practice. The unused nest is called a “dummy nest”. Once the eggs hatched, we diligently kept the cats indoors to make sure that once the babies fledged, they wouldn’t fall prey to our viscous cats’ claws. Two days ago, the baby wrens left their nest, and the backyard has been full of chatter from them and the parents. It’s funny to hear the happy songs of the babies paired with…

  • Garden

    Fledgling Woodpecker

    I was outside checking on the chickens when I heard a rustling sound in a shrub on the edge of a neighbor’s yard. When I looked closer, there was a baby bird flopping around in the leaves and low branches. It has the markings of either a Red bellied Woodpecker or a Northern Flicker, though I’m not certain this is what it is. There is a faint rust colored band on the back of the neck, and I didn’t get a good look at its underside. After it flopped out into the open yard with no sight of parents around for awhile, I scooped it up and placed in the…