At the end of January I notice the Carolina wren flying to my outside garden shelves. It was quite early to be building a nest in his cardboard box. I figured he was confused. We had some unusually warm days during winter so I thought maybe he was just claiming his territory....homesteading. Throughout February and March he would show up with twigs and other nesting debris in his beak heading to the cardboard box. During those days he built two tunnels in the box. Then everything stopped. Then the geranium window box was set out in April but nothing happened in that box. There had been no action in either property for weeks. This past week I put my canvas porch swing out for us to relax in. Cliff had been out relaxing and I had a couple of afternoons to read and swing.
There's a lovely breeze through the porch that gently sways us back and forth.
Then this afternoon we noticed about every fifteen seconds the Carolina wren appeared with a beakful of nesting materials and disappeared into the pillows. Okay. So now he's going to build the nest here. As Cliff was getting ready to head out to his Station 17 volunteer fire meeting, he saw the Carolina wren fly into the geranium kitchen window box with twigs and debris in his mouth.
Most of the day was mid-fifties with rain showers Cliff napped off and on I puttered around inside. Too raw and wet to be out so I washed both bathrooms, did a small laundry, made a chicken with fennel soup. It seemed each time I walked by the dining room window the female hummingbird was still perched at the feeder.
Guess it was too breezy and wet to leave her comfortable perch.
Sunday Cliff and I packed a picnic lunch and drove to the Ocooee Gorge for some rafting entertainment but there was none. The gorge was hosting a half and full marathon. We set up at a picnic table. I walked the loop around the river and over the bridge while Cliff guarded our food.
view from the footbridge
walking back toward the picnic area
Comments