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Wrens
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludoviciantus)
(click on any images to see larger versions. Newer photos are much larger than
older ones)
 Adult Wren Carolina Wren getting a treat. Photo taken by Pete on Pete Brown, March 2, 2003. Camera: Olympus C3000Z with EagleEye Opticzoom Adult Wren Same wren as the previous photo. Photo taken by Pete on Pete Brown, March 2, 2003. Camera: Olympus C3000Z with EagleEye Opticzoom
Carolina Wren Young and Adults Roosting
Every spring we see the adult Carolina Wrens bringing the young around to teach
them to hunt and to fly. Sometimes we're even lucky enough to snap a photo of
the young. Originally I thought these photos were of three babies
from some other pair. I later realized that it was our two adults and
the single baby our pair had. Later in the season, the day before the couple
started their second nest, they chased away the poor little baby. For a week or
more after that, the two adults roosted in this same spot, one tucked under the
other's wing.
 Roosting Young Wrens Aren't they cute! We have a hose hanger on a support under our deck. It faces inside towards the house. Two Carolina Wren adults and a jouvenile spent the week here roosting every evening in this sheltered spot. They were still there on June 6. Pete Brown, May 18, 2004 around 10:30pm. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 at 12x zoom Roosting Young Wrens I checked in on them a little early this night, as I just heard the adult singing from a tree right above the deck earlier. They weren't asleep yet. Pete Brown, May 20, 2004 around 7:30pm. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 at 10x zoom Wren Roost This is a wide shot of the place the wrens decided to roost. Melissa's garden and our shed are in the background Pete Brown, May 20, 2004 around 7:30pm. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 wide angle Wren Roost The two adult Carolina Wrens roosting. The nest was pretty much finished when I took this photo. Pete Brown, June 7, 2004 around 10:30pm. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 full zoom
Carolina Wren Nests
2002 Nests
 Carolina Wren Nest Here's the Carolina Wren nest we had in a nook in the flashing just outside our covered deck in spring 2002. You can just see one egg in the photo. I got a real talking-to (from the wrens and my wife!) for sneaking up there to take a photo and scaring the poor birdies out. :-) Pete Brown, Spring 2002. Camera: Olympus C3000Z
2003 Nests
2003 was a bad year for birds. The constant rain after the year of drought took
a real tool on the trees, plants, insects and birds. We did have some young
woodpeckers and other birds at the feeders, but we didn't have any nests that
we could find.
2004 Nests
2004 was the year of nests around here! The bounty of the cicadas helped make
the local bird population explode (and the local butterfly and moth population,
as the birds ate the slow-moving cicadas instead). Nesting on our property, we
had Chickadees, Robins, Carolina Wrens, Nuthatches, woodpeckers and lots of
others that we didn't even see.
In 2003 I build a window bird box.
The Carolina wrens built a nest in it in March 2004, and a second on June
6, 2004. That first nesting produced, as best as I can tell, one baby and one
dud egg. However, it may have produced the three babies (or is it two adults
and a baby?) that have been staying under our porch every night from the middle
of May through at least the first week or two of June.
 Carolina Wren nest in window bird box A lot of good that plexiglass did me! :-). This was the first nest he built in 2004. He started a second in this box on June 6. Pete Brown, May 10, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 Carolina Wren Nest Here's the Carolina Wren nest that was removed from our window bird box in the spring of 2004. The egg inside was abandoned by the parents, but the other egg hatched. You can tell it's 2004 by the half snacked-on periodical cicada nymph in the nest. Pete Brown, May 10, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10
On June 7 our Carolina Wren started his second nest of the season in the window
bird box. It was a cloudy day, so the photos are a bit grainy; nevertheless,
these are the best Carolina Wren photos I've been able to take so far. After
adding the bit to his nest, the little wren popped up on top of the box to
check out the nosy neighbor watching him through the window. I hope I didn't
scare him away!
 Carolina Wren Caught red-handled! Pete Brown, June 7, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 Carolina Wren Darn nosy neighbors! Pete Brown, June 7, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 Carolina Wren On top of his nest-in-progress. Pete Brown, June 7, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 Carolina Wren On top of his nest-in-progress. Pete Brown, June 7, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10
 Carolina Wren Who, me? On top of his nest-in-progress. Pete Brown, June 7, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10 Carolina Wren You can just see him in the box in this washed-out photo. Pete Brown, June 7, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10
Melissa's father lives out in the country in Thurmont. His wrens are really
fertile, laying six or so eggs at a time. This nest was located in his shed on
a beam that was only about waist-high. Leon put a piece of plywood up against
it to protect the wren's privacy; they seemed to appreciate that. Eventually
the newly hatched babies were chased out by a snake, having stayed in the nest
for only a week.
 Carolina Wren Nest The mother temporarily left the nest when we checked in on her at my Father-in-Law's house. This nest is in his shed behind a board. There are six eggs. Pete Brown, May 10, 2004. Camera: Panisonic Lumix FZ-10
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