Two Wrens and a Catbird

There’s a little switch on the top, right of my camera. It toggles the operation from standard photography to video. Whether I choose to flip that switch can mean the difference between having to explain what I saw, and providing a visual movie of the events. Alternatively, if I’ve turned the dial to video, I can miss a potentially beautiful still shot – one that could never be extracted from a video file.

Yesterday, the clouds cleared late in the day. A little after 5:00 PM I made the decision to go out on a drive on the property as I had finished my major work projects for the day. After visiting a few other of my favorite locations, I stopped by House E. That is where I recently filmed a Bluebird couple building their nest. I’m happy to report that I saw the female entering the nest – perhaps to lay an egg, or because she is already setting on her clutch. I’m hoping the best for that pair!

Beyond House E, is the meadow north of the pond where Spring rains fill the low gully that sometimes run like a little creek as it fills our pond with runoff from the land north of ours. Once the ground absorbs all the Spring rain and hot summer sun dries the land, I can easily drive across that low spot to get to the East side of the pond meadow and beyond. But, driving a golf cart into that area when the ground is still wet can mean I’ll get stuck.

Several years ago, in late Autumn, Robert and I set out to set up a few birdhouses. Since the ground had been dry for months at that time, Robert pounded a post in the little gully that runs through the north pond meadow, and attached a wooden house. Very early this Spring, I noticed that the old, wooden box had slid down the post, but it was too wet to reach that location. By the time it was dry enough to move the house back up the post, House Wrens had moved in. I’m one who believes that Nature is far more competent that I might be regarding what a bird might think is a good nesting place. So, I chose not to disturb the birds and move their chosen nest spot.

As I sat watching the Bluebird in House E, I heard the Wrens that are occupying the old, wooden box on the post in the gully. It was quite a distance, so rather than trying to focus on such a little subject as a House Wren, I switched to the video setting, and captured this video (please excuse the sound of a lawn mower in the distance!)

The Gray Catbird that showed up on the top of the post, was using that vantage point to scout for insects on the ground. A minute earlier, I can captured that bird a long distance away. He was perched atop an old fence post, hunting from that spot.

I had also filmed the Wren in the scrub about 25 feet from their low-level house.

I never really know what I might observe on any given day when I choose to travel around the property. But, I consider all of the experiences a wonderful gift.