Success!

For several years a wren couple have made a nest in one of my pot plants.  Always the same one....a spider plant (or airplane plant) that sits on a stand about 2 feet high,  on the back porch, in the midst of several other plants.  Until this year, they made a rather messy, saucer-shaped nest.  When the Mom laid the eggs, we would watch surreptitiously, while the father made many trips to the nest with yummy morsels in his beak for the Mom. Once or twice, the eggs just disappeared.  I guess a snake ate them.   After the eggs hatched, both parents brought food.   And until this year, the fledglings also disappeared...either a snake, cat or raccoon would find them. 

This year they built a fantastic nest.  (When I saw them bringing nesting materials I decided to see if I could find a slightly better location for the plant.  I moved it over a foot or two away from anything a snake or cat could climb onto to get to the nest.  The birds were a bit puzzled when they returned with more twigs, but they quickly found the pot and resumed building.)  We tried to stay away from the area of the nest for several weeks while they finished the nest, laid the eggs, then Mom sat on the nest and the Father would bring her food for about 14 days.  After the eggs hatched, one parent would sit on the porch railing and sing a special song, the parent who was near the nest would fly off and the feeder parent would hop down and then, while looking all around, would hop across the porch and onto the nest.  This went on from daylight to dusk for 2 more weeks.  Then one day, the babies fledged and 4 little Carolina Wrens, still downy looking, jumped from the pot, landed rather awkwardly on the porch and when all four had jumped, one parent appeared and called to them.  They were led to a series of flower beds (thick with larkspurs) and then to a grassy area.  They could fly for about 10 feet. 

I have been told that one should remove the nest after the birds fledge because snakes have a very good sense of smell, and would be watching for the next brood.  So I finally got a look at the nest.  It was a masterpiece of camouflage.  The nest itself  was cylindrical about 7 inches long and 5 inches around.  Inside the tunnel, the nest was about 5 inches long and 3 or 4 inches in diameter.  All made of small semi-stiff plant material.  This year they used the blades of the spider plant to weave back and forth across the top to hide it and a somewhat sturdier twig to prop up another couple of blades to hide the entrance.  I was so proud of them.  And now, once more, I am suffering from empty nest syndrome.  We aren't hearing the wonderful songs of the Wrens nearby, although they are still in the neighborhood.  I hope they will build another nest soon..