Carport wrens fledged this morning

Wren chick prepares to fledge

I checked the wren nest box in the carport before I left for a grocery trip late this morning. I'm glad I did: I saw the two wren chicks fledge!

Both chicks were in front of the nest, not inside it, when I peered in at them. They hopped around inside the cardboard box that's sheltered their nest for the past month. And they fluttered their wings a bit in an experimental kind of way. It occurred to me that I should get my camera. I took the photo above moments before that chick flapped its way out of the box.

When I looked up next it was perched on the top edge of the cardboard box. Then it flapped awkwardly down to the floor and over to the side of the carport. The adult wrens waited and watched in nearby trees. After the first fledgling fluttered out of the carport and landed on the ground a few feet away, the adults escorted it to some bushes at the edge of the woods. The trio hopped and fluttered around at the edge of the woods for a few minutes.

Meanwhile the remaining nestling chirped plaintively, when it wasn't fluttering clumsily inside the box. Then I heard an especially noisy rush of fluttering and the chirping began from a new location. It took me a minute to find the fledgling on the floor, underneath my truck, legs splayed out after an ungraceful landing. It rested under my truck for several minutes. Eventually one of the adults came over to investigate. They hopped to the side of the carport and the adult flew over to a nearby tree. This juvenile seemed less developed than the first one, possibly a day younger. It seemed less confident. It hopped awkwardly around the carport floor until it found its way up a low brick wall. It went out to the edge of a brick ledge, chirped a while, then fluttered a few feet down the ground. It hopped another ten feet toward the rest of the family group.

It was difficult for me to tell what was going on during the next few minutes. There was considerable activity under some black cohosh plants, with much rustling of dry leaves. I walked down the hill below the cohosh patch to get a better view. Meanwhile the four wrens hopped and chirped and fluttered an erratic meandering route from bush to bush. Eventually an adult rounded up both fledglings and escorted them behind a small pile of sheltering leaves. They've been there for the last half hour or so now, while the adults forage and bring back meals.

And now it's time for me to forage and bring back a meal, too. My grocery trip was delayed an hour — well worth it!

Paddling report: green heron

The obnoxious heat in the southeast subsided yesterday. It was so pleasant to be paddling around this morning that I decided to extend my trip by touring the upper lake, too. Our new kayak is much lighter and easier to drag up the dam than the leaky canoe!

The highlight of my tour of the upper lake was a close encounter with a green heron.

It's the first time I've ever seen one. It was wading and hunting in the swampy shallows at the upper end of the lake. I didn't have my camera with me, so the photo is from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

I also briefly glimpsed a blue heron flying away from us. The blue herons seem very shy. I have yet to encounter one wading. I only see them flying away, no matter how quietly I try to paddle around the coves.

I may have spotted a kingfisher also. I saw one last summer, and I think I've glimpsed one or more from a distance this summer. I haven't gotten a good close view yet, however.

I didn't bring my trash bin along this morning. The upper lake is certainly due for clean-up, though. I did retrieve several feet of fishing line with a hook attached. I don't want those abandoned hooks or knotted line to be hazards for the turtles or the birds.

Carport wren family newsletter

I've been trying to get a definitive count of the wren chicks currently living in the carport. There's still one of the five eggs in the clutch unaccounted for, however. Two of the eggs never hatched unfortunately. I do see two little wren faces peering out of the front of the nest cavity when I check on them. I can't tell if there's a third, much younger sibling hiding at the back of the nest. I suspect that last egg didn't hatch either, though.

In bloom in June

A pollinator visits this great laurel blossom
(rosebay rhododendron)

Black cohosh seems to thrive on the shaded hillside next to the lake.

I stopped for breath as I climbed the steep hill where the black cohosh grows. I looked up and saw this lady watching me:

Coming soon:
Hostas!

Report from Wrenhaven

My wife observed that our house seems to be a haven for wrens. So I've started to refer to the place as Wrenhaven.

A few days ago I checked the nest at the back of the house. The five baby wrens were all feathered, and they had grown too big for their nest. They were huddled in a group next to it, napping.

In my most recent checks of the backyard nest there were no signs of activity by adults or juveniles. Looks like that clutch has fledged. Congratulations to the class of 2008, wren school of flight and bug eating!

Meanwhile in the carport, the eggs in this photo have begun to hatch. I put off this entry because I thought they would all hatch together. Not so. The first emerged Sunday evening. A second appeared Monday. I can't tell if there's a third chick as of Tuesday. In a couple of days when the chicks are sitting upright I may be able to get a more accurate count.

All about the Carolina wren, at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Reptile roundup

The hot weather in the southern U.S. has brought out some hot weather creatures. I've seen several of these five-lined skinks scurrying about. These little lizards can be found totally motionless, or zooming elsewhere in a blue-tailed blur. The ones I've seen this week have all been in a blurry hurry, so this photo is from the Virgina Herpetological Society.

This little gray rat snake was not in a hurry when I found it in the carport this morning. Although rat snakes do eat birds and their eggs, this one seemed too small to threaten the wrens nesting nearby. (Photo courtesy of the backyard ecologist household herpetological society.)

Catching up on a backlog of notes

I've been paddling, but obviously I haven't been reporting. I have some paddling notes saved around here somewhere.

Birds seem busy today. A juvenile titmouse landed on the deck rail for a rest before fluttering off again.

I hope that reporting bird nesting activity doesn't jinx all birds the way it did for the robin in the dogwood tree. There are two active Carolina wren nests near my house. The one under the deck has five hatchlings, and their parents are busy feeding them, one bug at a time. A few days ago I discovered a wren nest in the carport, tucked into an otherwise empty fruit box. The female wren quickly learned to tolerate our activity near her nest. I could see at least four eggs in there when she was away.

The barred owls have been mostly heard but not seen, however I encountered one at the lake shore one morning earlier this week. At first I thought it might be napping, but when I returned from my (unreported) morning paddle around the lake I saw it on the ground, finishing a bite of breakfast. A very agitated ground squirrel squeaked non-stop nearby. Perhaps a clue about owl's breakfast menu?

Just now two ground squirrels scampered up and down the back steps near the deck. Those are the same steps one or more raccoons have been using to get to some outdoor trash and compost. Looks like I should get more securely closing metal containers for trash and compost.

Two nights ago a large Luna moth flapped around the carport for a while before settling on a car tire to rest. Although it seemed committed to spend the night there, it wasn't around the next morning. What a gorgeous creature!

(Luna moth photo from the Texas A&M Entomology Dept.)

Vacant nest, possibly an empty nest

Update: The female robin who was nesting in a dogwood tree has disappeared. I haven't seen her in the past two days. There was no indication that her eggs hatched. I have not been able to get close enough to the nest to check the condition of any remaining eggs.

According to this web site about robins and their nests, “the main predators of robin eggs are snakes, squirrels, blue jays, and crows.” All of those potential predators live here, although I have not seen any crows close to the nesting tree. I have seen blue jays in or near that tree, and squirrels roam everywhere. The adult female robin may have been attacked while foraging on the ground, too.

These things happen in the wild. I'm disappointed, though, because I was looking forward to watching and photographing fledgling robins from a nearby deck.

Snake sunning on a dock

A northern water snake
(I think)
warming up in the morning sun

The Herpetology Lab at Davidson College provides a nifty snake identification helper.

 

Night owls

I woke in the middle of the night to the cries of two or three barred owls on opposite sides of my house. They were yelling at each other about dinner duty, as barred owls often do.

Last week a lone barred owl spent considerable time lurking, napping, and hunting in my backyard. I hoped it had taken up residence here. I haven't seen it in a few days, however, although I hear owl calls daily. My yard seems to be hunting territory, if not a home base.

See also, Owlcam.com

 

Paddling report

I plopped my leaky canoe into the lake at mid-day. I wanted to paddle a bit before the afternoon heat set in. I decided to explore one of the adjoining lakes.

My little lake is one of three created by the construction of earthen dams some forty-odd years ago. All three are named after ducks. Like many inland lakes these days, however, there are more resident Canadian geese than ducks.

I paddled up to the earthen dam that holds in the upper lake. Dragging the canoe up the dam slope turned out to be somewhat more work than I imagined. I probably didn't pick the easiest route up the hill, as it turned out. But I made it. Getting it back down afterward was easier, of course, but I did get my shoes muddy trying to relaunch the canoe.

The upper lake seems shallower than the one I live near. The apparent upstream end is just a few inches deep, mucky and swampy. In the shallows I saw a fin jutting from the water. Not quite shark size, though. It was one of 8-10 large fish schooled in the shallows. They may have been catfish, although I thought I saw some stripes that I don't associate with catfish. They let me approach kind of close, then abruptly they all flopped and swam away, leaving several little whirlpools swirling behind them.

Wildlife survey

Birds

• the usual, ubiquitous resident Canadian geese
• two goose eggs floating in the water, that got away from their nests
• two red shouldered hawks soaring; I may have startled one perched in the woods on shore, also
• I heard a barred owl hoot once, but I didn't see it
• a Carolina chickadee went from branch to branch over my head while I was near the bank
• 2 blue jays
  
• various other birds not counted or identified
  

Fish

• the previously mentioned 8-10 mini sharks, catfish, or possibly carp

Spiders and Insects

• one really cool brown water-walking spider
• some dragonflies
• other typical insects of inland lakes

Trash pick-up

• 5 fishing bobbers: 3 with hooks, 2 new ones wrapped in a tree branch, one old and algae covered
• two plastic shopping bags
• a child's rubber ball
• an empty Cheetos bag
• a nearly full plastic bottle of Cheerwine
• several beer cans
• some beer bottles; one broken, I think I retrieved all the pieces and shards
• 1 small plastic potting container, which I will use to plant a sunflower seed
  

And that's today's paddling report.
 

Robin nesting in a dogwood tree

A female robin nests in a dogwood tree

This robin's nest is right outside my back door, in the middle of a dogwood tree canopy.


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For more information about the American robin, consult the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Here's a better photo taken by a Seattle birdwatcher.