Here's the new home. I've had Carolina wrens build in potted plants in wall brackets, and hanging baskets. This ashtray hasn't been used in years, so it's not as bad as it seems!

We first noticed the nest about April 7th or so, and two eggs appeared about April 9th.

April 11 - Four eggs in the nest now. Little sign of the proud parents.

April 21 - Got a cute picture of mama on the nest. Still too early for hatchlings, I think.

April 25 - Still sitting on the nest, no sign of chicks yet. They could come out over the weekend, we'll see!

April 30 - Solid mass of tiny chicks. Can't see any eggs, I'm hoping they all hatched.

May 2 - Eyes still closed, feathers coming in.
Lotsa little beaks prominently to the fore.

They respond to a chirp with the programmed response - FEED ME!

May 5 - Their eyes are open a bit. They're supposed to fledge in two weeks or so from hatching... they're growing up queek.

Hard to tell how many are in there - at least five now. As they get stronger, the beak-in-your-face reflex will get more aggressive, and they'll be easier to count.

May 7 - Well, I missed that guess! They can see now, and they're smart enough to hunker down when they notice a big monkey peering in at them. Maybe if I wave a bug at them I'll get a nice array of gaping beaks to count?

Anyway, five confirmed chicks. Check back to the April 30 picture to see how far they've come in a mere seven days.

May 9 - The proud parents are busy! One of them brings a bug every five minutes or so. It takes a lot of insects to turn 3/4" eggs into near-adult sized birds in a mere two weeks.

Looking less like chicks. Their feathers are growing like mad, and turning to adult colors since two days ago. Notice the white eye stripe - characteristic of the Carolina Wren paint job.

They'll fly next week. I'm guessing the chicks leave the nest on Wednesday.

Big, healthy appetites! This photo sequence is a from a single food stop. Below, right, then down.

An hour of standing patiently inside the window was finally rewarded with a good video clip of a food run. Check it out:

May 12 - Back from the weekend. The chicks are noisy when food arrives, and you can hear them from 75 feet away, easy. More on that in a moment...

Good news! Rueleen got a good look in the nest today and saw five little heads in there. They were hunkered down, but she counted beaks. I've been unable to count them lately, and was worried we'd lost one or two. As if they're my kids or something. ;-)

Notice how big they've gotten. As of Friday, you never saw them above the rim of the ashtray. Now they're reaching way above it to grab food. They will also come out of the nest (but not the ashtray) to beg for the bugs.

They should fledge and fly away in the next couple of days. Good thing too! They're in a terribly dangerous time now, and won't be safe until they can fly.

The cheeping carries a long way and they don't stop for a minute after a feeding run. Their heads are clearly visible from the sides now when they're feeding. They're very noticeable now, and need to get airborne before a crow, cat, or other nest raider discovers them.

However, the first flight attempts almost never work. They may spend a few hours to a day on the ground before they figure it out. Like I said, this is the dangerous time... Cross your fingers!

May 13 - The birds have flown!

Arrived at work at 9:00am to find the nest empty. I knew they wouldn't be far, and found them in the bushes next to the nest. The parents were making occasional food runs, but mostly just hanging about acting anxious.

With good reason! Some of the chicks were in the foliage, some still on the ground. I don't know how early the chicks had left the nest, but it took them another hour to make it to the trees beside the parking lot. They're as safe as they can be, now that they're in cover and can fly.

By 1:30pm they had moved into the thicker woods between our parking lot and Roswell Road. I could hear hungry chicks begging for food, but not see them.

And so ends our story! Out of six eggs, five chicks survived to fledge and fly away. I'm thrilled to have watched this, no other way to put it.

***

Thanks for sharing my love of the natural world. I'm glad you dropped by! Now take yourself and your loved ones outdoors and check it out in person. Watch birds and animals for a few minutes and try to figure out what they're up to. It's a fascinating world, even in your back yard... or the ashtray by your office!

-Tiki Mon