birds

Turning Colder (Arachnophobia Alert!)

Rae Spencer12 Comments

Mantis Sept 30

The yard is getting colder and colder, though it’s not cold enough, yet, to use the word winter. In fact, it’s a stretch to use the word cold.

Finch Oct 2

Maybe brisk is a better word. Except, nothing feels brisk. Instead everything feels sleepy and slow. Spider webs ripple in smoke-tinged drafts, and wasps pause for photographs as if posing.

Spider Sept 30

Unknown Wasp Sept 27

Grubs curl sluggishly when disturbed, and I have to go slow with the mower because fall’s chill has dulled the toads’ reflexes.

Grub Oct 12

Toad Sept 1

Jumping spiders retreat higher and higher into trees, searching for safe crevices in which to spin their thick winter nests.

Spider Oct 2

It happens like this every year, and every year I succumb to a listless bout of melancholy.

Which reminds me of a poem by Kay Middleton…

O, October what have you done?

The Empty Nest

Rae Spencer5 Comments

The house wrens’ nestlings fledged this week. They fledged while I was busy doing other things, and I regret missing the moment of their departure. (For more about the house wrens, see here, here, and here.)

Wren August 4

During the last two months, our little family of birds have been a constant source of amusement and amazement. At first the male worked alone, a tiny bustle of feather and song. Then his mate arrived, bristling with scolds. Together they transformed the nest box into a vessel seemingly immune to the laws of physics. They stuffed it with so many twigs that it should have burst at the seams or collapsed into a singularity. Instead it rocked gently in the wind as eggs were laid, as the first male lost control of the box and his eggs were destroyed, and as he reclaimed the box and eggs were laid again.

Wren August 14

In early August, the eggs hatched.

Wren August 15

Wren August 14

As the nestlings’ voices grew more and more insistent, the wrens again defied physics. They expended so much energy, feeding their young, that both birds should have grown weak and thin.

Wren August 14

Wren August 14

Among the insects I recognized, there were caterpillars, moths, katydids, and crickets.

Wren August 23

Wren August 23

The yard should have run out of insects, but it didn’t.

Wren August 23

Wren August 24

I don’t know how many nestlings they were feeding. More than the box should have been able to hold, wedged in with all of those twigs.

Wrens August 22

Wrens August 22

Wrens August 22

Wrens August 22

Wrens August 22

Then, around mid-morning on August 26th, I found the box abandoned.

I want to believe that I’ve heard the fledglings, in the days since, begging from deep within the wax myrtle, or from the neighbors’ yards, or across the street. I want to believe I would recognize them if they returned to the yard, which seems unnaturally quiet now.

Perhaps they will return next year, all grown up and beyond recognition. Perhaps they will fill the yard, once more, with songs and scolds. Fill the nest box with twigs and eggs, and, in the process, fill me with more delight than I should be able to hold.

Flecked with Gold

Rae Spencer2 Comments

Cicada Wing

A cold front swept through the yard this week, carrying a hint of fall. My mood turned slightly melancholy as I rooted in my closet for sleeves and jeans, as flashes of orange and yellow caught my attention.

Wasp August 15

Butterfly August 4

Butterfly August 15

Butterfly August 15

Bumblebee August 16

Goldfinch August 16

I’m certain that summer will return next week, as hot and humid as ever. But it’s green cloak is wearing thin, and it’s remaining months will be flecked with gold.

Grackle July 31

Wasp August 15

Green Tree Frog Aug 12

Robin Nestlings

Rae Spencer5 Comments

Robin August 4

The nest is high in the pear tree, almost too high to photograph.

Robin August 4

But if I stand in the right spot and hold my camera at the right angle, I catch glimpses of the nestlings. Sometimes the parents, too.

Robin August 4

Robin August 4

Yesterday, with the help of a tripod, I managed a few video clips.

The robin nestlings have held much of my attention recently, but a few days ago I stepped away from the nest long enough to set up a Twitter account…

Wren Changes

Rae Spencer4 Comments

The house wren spent weeks perfecting his nest. He added twigs until no more twigs would fit, then filled the spaces between twigs with bits of spider web and grass clippings. As he worked, he sang.

Wren June 19

Several female wrens visited during those weeks. They hopped around the yard, inspecting all of the nest boxes and gourds, scolding the male when he got too close. The male wren reacted to these visits with a barrage of high-pitched calls, fluttering from perch to perch as he tried to lead the females to “his” nest.

Finally, one of the females decided to stay. She finished the nest over a period of three or four days, spending longer and longer inside the nest box each day.

Then I woke one morning to a furious battle. A new wren had arrived, and all three birds were fighting. By mid-morning, the new wren had driven the nesting pair away and destroyed their eggs.

Egg July 20

Egg July 20

The new wren visited each of the gourds and nest boxes that day, adding twigs to all of them. More than once I saw him remove twigs from the old nest and carry them to one of his new nests. He seemed particularly fond of the gourds, which the other wren had largely ignored.

I suspect the first wren was a very young male. He put all of his efforts into one nest, while most sources indicate that male wrens typically build several nests at once. He also seemed thoroughly over-excited whenever a female appeared in the yard, smothering them with enthusiasm.

By comparison, the new wren is calm and sedate. His sings less, and his song is softer. He follows females, when they appear, but does not flutter and scold as they investigate his nests. This afternoon one of the females began adding material to the old nest, and he let her work in peace. He watched, singing occasionally, but stayed out of her way.

Wren July 30

I’m fascinated by the new wren’s behavior, which seems like a paradox to me. He arrived in a whirl of aggression, complete with egg destruction, but his activity since has been passive. What triggered his initial invasion? And will he be able to hold the nest he won?

Wren July 30