As the Nest Box Turns: A birding soap opera

Some of you may remember that April, a pair of curious chickadees began checking out the nest box I had installed for them.

Soon they built a lovely nest. I was excited that I might have babies. For the next two months, I did not find any eggs in the box though the pair were in and out of the box daily. In this time I saw them chase away a hummingbird at the feeder an ovenbird on the ground and a couple of sparrows.

It has been very hot out the past couple of days. I have not been outside but for brief moments and during those times, I had not seen the chickadee pair, who are generally inseparable.

This morning at about 9:15, I glanced outside and saw a wren at the nest box. My greatest fear with this box was that house wrens would attack the chickadee eggs. So I ran outside to check the box.

When I opened the box, I found no eggs, and a handful of small twigs. This nest attempt was very new. There was still nesting material from the chickadees, but the cup was gone.

I set up the camera to have a look at the activity. Sure enough, the little house wren would go into the house and remove the material.

This activity continued for quite a while. Once in a while he would stop and look around and emit that bubbly call.

Now it was time for a stick.

Wait! Just a little more house cleaning…

Time for a quick break and call a mate.

One more stick went in and then can you guess what happened?

Yup, Lucy and Ricky (the Chickadee pair) showed up.

The Chickadee went into the house and found the twigs, one of which was immediately removed.

The other chickadee chased off the wren while the first one still had the twig in its beak.

I'm sorry to have missed the shot of the actual attack on the wren.

There was a long lull where the dees guarded and the wren was no where to be seen or heard. During this time the Dee was in and out of the box. Then when the wren call got closer, this one parked in the hole, stubbornly protecting the box.

The rest of the day was quiet.

The End???

Lol that lil Wren sure was cleaning house. I,m looking forward to the next episode for sure. Nice Photo's!

Amazing shots, Mrs Ed. The amount of nest material that little Wren was able to eject at one time is incredible.

Great photo story Mrs Ed!! Love all the catches of things you were able to get.

Love this thread,,,so cool to be able to capture on film, and narrate such a story..absolutely love it.
Will be watching for the rest of the story....please do keep us updated on the new home..
Isn't nature something when you take the time to 'watch' it and listen to it? God knew what he was doing when he created nature..my favorite past time.

Thanks!

No new chapter in the story today. I checked the nest box this morning and there were no new sticks and not a lot in the way of other nest material.

Meanwhile, here are a few more pix from yesterday…

I have not seen the chickadees sit atop this box at all, unlike Mr. Chatterbox here.

Here he is taking a look at me.

Oh that's a funny one Marna!

Yah. I thought so.

Hey, here's an interesting House Wren fact from Cornell. I found it while trying to find out which sex builds the nest.

that is a very interesting fact. had no idea!

I love that nest box! Where'd you get it?

That is a Gilbertson Box. I ordered it online. It is the same as Dave's for the bluebirds, but I have put a Chickadee hole reducer on it.

Well I spoke too soon. Apparently this saga airs at 9:15 am Central.

I glanced out the window and there he was, back at the box.

Time for a stick!

House cleaning

this chunk needs to be removed completely!

Lastly, more stuff removed.

No Chickadee interference today.

Stay tuned…

LOL, great shots Marna!! Those House Wrens are very determined!

LOL...this is better than a soap opera.. no commercials! Great shots Marna and can't wait for the next installment.

I love this! Thank you so much for your time in doing it..I will be sure to stay tuned. thank you for sharing with us.

This has been so much better than a soap opera on tv!! I loved your photos!! I'm waiting for the next episode!! Love that birdhouse!

More to come indeed!


Here is where I got the box.
http://www.tmbstudios.com/proddetail.asp?prod=GBNB

To mount it, I drove in a 8' piece of rebar, then put a PVC conduit over it. That conduit is then spray painted with the plastic hammered metal paint. The PVC fits in a hole on the back cover. It was loose, so I had to caulk it.

When we last left off on Day 2 (Chapter 2) of this story, the little wren was again persisting in making the box his without much interruption from Lucy or Ricky, the Chickadee pair.

One Dee made an appearance and clung to the outside for several minutes before going in.

At the end of the day, this is what the box looked like.

CHAPTER 3: Little wren gets busy on day three

This morning I set up a webcam to monitor the box, but it was really bad so I ended it. But while I was outside, I saw the little one go in and out several times. I had already checked the box at about 8:30 and there were now MANY sticks in it, so I knew he had been busy.

I saw one Dee perch on the hole again for a while, then visit inside. But there were no confrontation.

And so, our new hero began to build again with much vigor.

The routine is the same. Find a stick, take it to the roof.

Fly down to the hole, take the stick in.