House Wren Houses

There have been a lot of birdhouse kits under the Christmas tree in our home.  And some have survived their tenure out in the elements.  A couple of years ago, I gathered together a couple that became interior decorations, found one that had never been put together, and purchased one more.  Once all were assembled and painted, I set them on the corner logs of the house, one on top of the other, and waited.

Sure enough, the house wrens took up residence in the condo and amused me for several weeks with their comings and goings as they awaited the arrival of their little ones.  Last year, they must have found better accommodations somewhere, but this year, I am happy to report that they are back.  Well, two of them, anyway.  Wrens are occupying the second and fourth floors this spring.

After the first year of renting out the condo, I painstakingly cleaned out the old bedding after the birds had flown.  It is amazing how much one little wren can shove into that little place!  And without taking the houses apart, it's not that easy to get access to all the twigs to remove them.  It was, indeed, a labor of love.

But when the wrens didn't return last year, I wondered if I'd done wrong by cleaning out the contents of the houses?  My plan is to not clean them out this fall and see what happens next spring.

When I was outside earlier to take a couple of pictures of the houses, the beige one was occupied by a wren.  I could see her little beak and eyes staring at me through the little "door."  I tried very hard to be quiet and still and not frighten her, but just as I was trying to zoom in, she also decided to zoom . . . right past my head.  And, boy, did she put up a racket!  I felt terrible that I had disturbed her!  She's back now.  Well, I think she is . . . but she's hanging out on the fourth floor porch, so maybe I've got my tenants confused.

It is my hope that this post will make up for yesterday's, in which I took some joy in the killing of a chipmunk by my cat.  It is clearly stated in my cat's contract that she can kill all the mice and chipmunks she wants, but she is not allowed to kill any birds.  (Fat chance she could ever catch one of these wrens anyway.)

So I am in love not only with the cheerful little wrens, but also with my role as landlady, providing attractive housing for them.  And I am in love with those Christmas gifts so many years ago that are still bringing joy today.