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.)