Engineering Degree from House Wren University

Amazingly, this little house wren is STILL building nests. He's been working on this one, off and on, for several weeks and has at least two others that I know of under construction. House wrens have been known to build as many as 10 nests for their lady-wren's inspection. Once Madame has approved the sight, she'll pull out any twigs that don't meet with her approval and line what's left with soft materials before laying her clutch of eggs.

I've watched the house wrens nest here for the past two summers, including two broods last summer, both in nest boxes. These big-personality little birds don't breed in FL, but they do winter there, so I hope to see them in the winters once I move. This will, however, be my last year of watching them nest, so I've been enjoying it.

The male, seen here trying to get his twig into the nest box, will work tirelessly with short breaks to sing and chatters. The female will periodically come around to inspect his work - which usually results in more activity from the little guy. My hubs says the male wrens are like husbands everywhere ... just trying to impress their mates and always seeming to come up just a wee bit short. I told him that it isn't that the guys come up short so much as it is that they overestimate what will impress us. But I digress. I've seen the male wrens bring sticks to the nest that are easily 4 times the length of the wren, and then work feverishly to get the stick in the nest. They are little go-getters!

I planted 40 vincas out front today, lining our front walkway. And our rhododendrons are just starting to bloom, so the front of the house looks really inviting and colorful right now. Good thing, because tomorrow our Realtor is coming over with her photographer to do all the pics for the house listing. If things go as expected, I think our house will be listed within the next couple of days - yay!

I was sorely tempted to give you an insect today - I found several interesting ones in the garden. But there will be plenty of time for them as summer approaches. If you'd like to have a look, I posted a mimic bee, a chive blossom and a paper wasp with food starting HERE on Flickr.

And now, back to work...

Debbi