Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Songbirds

Welcome to the first Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #1 challenge is Songbirds. Upcoming challenges can be found on my Bird Weekly Challenge Page.

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Today’s post features the Carolina Wren. During the most vulnerable weeks in March & April that we held ourselves in quarantine in our homes due to COVID-19, a pair of Carolina Wrens had built a nest, laid four eggs, had three survivors and were the best darn bird parents I’ve ever seen. These photos are only a few of about 300 shots I took. That doesn’t include the photos Frank took. This was over a span of 3-4 weeks.

Carolina Wrens AKA “Mouth of the South”

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  Hanging by a nail!

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  You lookin’ at me?

They kept us entertained and in doing so, we purchased mealworms from Birds Unlimited. We only had to make a phone call, park in the lot and the owner brought them out to us with his mask on. Easy Peasy! We only put the worms out once per day (in the late afternoon). The rest of the day, the Wrens were on their own in our jungle we call our backyard. Plenty of flying insects, spiders and such.

Parent feeding the largest chick. You can barely see the open mouth. Best shot I got before they fledged.

I’m awakened every morning to birds singing. Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds and Carolina Wrens are among the most popular songbirds in my yard year-round. At least it isn’t a rooster at 5am. Florida’s state bird is the Mockingbird who can have 50 or more songs in a sitting, but the Carolina Wrens are bold and loud.

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We have a large backyard with plenty of cover from crows and other predators. Feral cats come around now and then, but they don’t stay long. Frank is out there chasing them away. The Wrens loved the mealworms but were perfectly capable of feeding the chicks on their own with the amount of food we have naturally all around our detached garage. I can’t even tell you how many trees we have in our yard.

We also have a fountain that Frank built so they have a great water source to drink and bathe.

Until next week…Week #2 – Birds with Yellow Feathers.