The Daily Bucket is a place where we post and exchange our observations about what is happening in the natural world in our neighborhood. Each note about the bugs, buds, and birds around us is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns of nature that are quietly unwinding around us.
Gooseville, WI
After my dear neighbor of thirty years passed away his widow lovingly gave me his favorite handmade wren house before she moved away. He had penned a handwritten note above the door that simply reads bird sanctuary. It has been vigorously occupied by house wrens in season for the last five years since his passing.
A gentle gift that guards old memories well.
Nearby, in the blue spruce the woven wren roost is usually occupied by the male at night while waiting for his family to hatch and fledge.
In the coldest of winter my presence has often scurried three or four chickadees to fly into the early morning light while walking my dogs. They huddle and cuddle in the tiny shelter for shared warmth.
On a frozen calm morning I can sometimes see their small startled breaths suspended in a mid-flight frosted puff, while I notice that my nose hairs have also frozen together.
The ordinary kit house that the bluebirds won in a wild and furious battle with the tree swallows this spring is settled. I note in my journal that the bluebirds demand the higher ground and prefer the honeycrisp apple tree branches for a perch.
The tree swallows gave up the fight and harassment of the bluebirds and moved in nextdoor closer to the river. On these warm spring days they swoop, flip and turn in search of the newest bug hatch.
The family they will raise this summer will chatter incessantly with sweet swallow talk sitting in a row on the powerline along the road. I wish to learn their dialect.
Chickadees use this nestbox as a welcome roost during the stormy winter months after the swallows have gone south.
A master builder crafted this custom bungalow in a dead elm near the vegetable garden. When it finally blew down in a storm, a chain saw carefully recovered and reset the nest hole. Chickadees happily moved in soon after.
It's interesting that most years the wrens choose this tiny homemade box for a late, last batch of nestlings. It swings quietly in the coolness and shade of the red pines
Of course every yard has its creative carving wrens. This sculptured duplex is a favorite and is occupied in one hole or the other every year. Who wants to practice archery in the heat of summer anyway.
Sometimes wrens express their desire for modern innovation and technology. If you're a little late in coming to the yard and all the other niches and holes are claimed, then build your own within the steel fortress of the 1950 Ford pickup that's waiting for restoration. It's not going anywhere too soon.
I'm still waiting for my yard wrens to return home for the summer. If you happen to see one still traveling, please send her on her way.
So what's blooming or singing or slithering in your neighborhood today and what kind of interesting nests or bird bungalows are in your backyard?