Some Bewick’s Wrens took up residence in a decorative birdhouse on my back porch. These little birds are not very bothered by me and flutter back and forth as I sit there near their birdhouse. They occasionally sit and study me for a second to be sure that I am not a cat or something, and then they continue on with their bird business. So, I decided that since I was going to sit, drink a beer, and watch the birds that I might as well grab my camera and shoot photos of them.
How do I know they are Bewick’s Wrens? I have an app on my phone that listens for bird songs and then tells me what bird it detected. I then looked up the bird and confirmed that my photos look like Bewick’s Wren photos I found online. These wrens typically have a long white “eye brow” and a black bars on their tail feathers. They typically hunt for bugs with their long sharp beaks among shrubs and tree trunks. The male and female get together in the spring and raise a couple of nests of chicks. They must be good at it because these guys are everywhere around here.
How I ended up with Bewick’s Wrens on my back porch or who Bewick is, I don’t know, but I hear that that those in charge of bird naming are in the process of renaming birds that were named after people. They would rather they be named according to their appearance or behavior. I don’t know how they feel about people who were named after birds.
This pair of wrens appear to be working together to raise some chicks. One wren flies off and returns a few minutes later with a little caterpillar or bug and beaks it off to its partner, presumably to feed to the chicks. Either that or this is some bird form of DoorDash that they have come up with. At any rate, it is nice to see bugs being eaten by an animal that makes a pleasant noise in the morning.
Incidentally, I have two intentional birdhouses in my front yard and I don’t think that any birds have taken up residence in them. Perhaps they prefer living under the porch for better protection against the weather. Whatever the case, they are welcome guests.
And now, an unrelated photo of a Northern Cardinal that I saw on a hike.
Thanks for reading and happy spring.
Jason Frels 
Wrens are fun to watch. We get cactus wrens out here that remind me of clowns. I’ll bet they taste funny, also.
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They are good at hanging upside down. And don’t try to sniff the flower on their lapel.
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I didn’t see a mention of the Ebird app, so… on your phone download Ebird. Click a photo of the bird, send it to Ebird through the app, almost instantly the bird is usually identified. Works well.
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The app I use is called Merlin with the bird package for my region download. I am impressed with what it can do with the phone’s microphone.
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I think Merlin will do the upload and ID.
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Ha ! I looked at my phone, sorry Merlin is the one I meant. I take a photo off my PC, or even back of camera and submit. Quickly it will ID what you sent.
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Sweet Jason. I love sitting on my back having coffee and listening to the birds in the morning and afternoon/dusk. They also let me know when the feeders need attending too. They can be quite the acrobats when passing off food to their mate or nestlings. A nice way to spend some quiet time and are fun portrait subjects.
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Great shots! Good close-up of the male feeding his mate. I agree that I like seeing 🐛bugs being eaten.
A bright red cardinal is always pretty to see.
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Fabulous pics, Jason. Happy spring, happy Earth Day.
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sitting on a porch, driking a beer, watching birds. and then top it off with a sighting of a cardinal. life is good…
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There was a brief break in the neighborhood leaf blower symphony, so I got to sit outside on a Sunday afternoon.
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We’ve got that same symphony in our neighborhood. They must be on tour.
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