THE US REPORT

Having Saturday morning breakfast on the deck is one of the best things about living in Florida, and this morning we found a family of wrens had made a nest in a hanging basket of slightly dowdy begonia. Plants live through winter here, and I hadn’t repotted this one yet. I saw the Carolina wren dart out of the basket and realized she and her mate probably had some little ones coming along. Sure enough when I looked, I found the nest containing 5 eggs. I took a quick photo because I didn’t want to upset the parents. Then I sat back down at the table and my husband, daughter and I watched her zoom back to the basket to resume her motherly duties. I didn’t try to make her photo; I was afraid it would make her skittish. There are some great photos of Florida birds by a fellow named Bill Schmoker at the blog BrdPics.

My daughter asked why the bird would make her nest in such a place. I think it was a good move. The basket is inaccessible to cats or any other predator that might like to feast on the eggs. I doubt our black racer would slither from his preferred spot in the big Sago to bother with her eggs. Not likely that other birds like bluejays would want to try to get to that nest. For one thing, the hound, which the wren doesn’t seem to mind, loves to dart after jays and squirrels, barking madly, though of course he can’t catch them. Our yard is deliberately not cut back the way many Floridians choose to landscape. I like allowing the shrubs to grow a little wild, to reach beyond our fence line. That gives small critters and birds some cover. I keep two different water bowls available and change the water out every day, not only for the feral chicken that moved in a few years ago, but also for the lizards, frogs, birds and squirrels that like to have a drink every now and then.

I spent the first 18 years of my life pining to leave the farm. I’ve spent most of my years after trying to recreate it, first in Carolina and now in Florida. We’ll watch that wren take care of her babies, and we’ll do all we can to accommodate her. I hope to snap some photos as the birds hatch and begin to make their way into the world as fledglings. (Photo & Text by Kay B. Day)
**Read our May 1 update ; the babies have arrived.