The Bewick's Wrens have a second clutch, I can hear the chicks....!!!
I can't believe it. I knew the male built a new nest in a different box but I never saw the female help after she took off with her other two chicks. You may remember, only one of those chick survived. My updates on the first box/clutch can be found in gw4aurora Nest box activity 2016.
During the first nesting box the male paraded around the backyard running the fence line. I think he was a first time father, over excited about his new mate and not really knowing how to act or what to do. I say this cuz last year he never found a mate, spent most of his days singing.
I'm also suspect of the female, the first clutch had only two eggs.....what's up with that?
Anyway, during this clutch I hardly saw the male. I've been doing a lot of work in the back so I would have noticed if he kept to his pattern of behavior. He was singing in the morning, evening, and occasionally in the afternoon. Now that the eggs hatched he's singing more often.
Yesterday I heard some soft chirping, thought it was the sparrows nesting in my neighbor's soffits. Don't know how many clutches sparrows have but it seems like they nests year round?
This morning I decided to hunt down the chirping. As soon I go out, I see one of the wrens on the fences line headed for the nest box, insect in it's beak. Sure enough, he/she dives in the box and I can hear chicks squealin' away.
Shortly there after, the mate shows up with more food. First time I've seen those two together since the 24th of April, the day after the first fledging 5 weeks ago.
The time line for the clutch and the date of the upcoming fledge is hard to determine. The female was still dragging around and feeding her one chick 3 weeks ago, saw them together last on the 8th of May. This new activity, feeding the chicks, leads me to suspect the hatching was a few days ago. Doing the math, the eggs probably got laid around the 13th. The fledging should take place around the 5th of June.
It appears the female wren gave herself 3 weeks in between broods.
I relocated their new box to the side of the house, gives them a nice fly way with not as much sun. Photos will be hard to take; the walkway is about 4 foot wide with an obstructive view at the open end.
As for the photos.....
The fence/gate is to give you an idea of where I placed their new nest box. The box is nailed near to the top of the fence on the back side. I got a shot of the box on the other side.
Included is a shot of the wren inspecting the box at the old location. The box was moved due to the direct sun and sparrow harassment.
The last shot is the wren today at the new box after feeding the chicks.
I have no intentions of taking any more photos. The view/access is intrusive, no need to stress them out, I'm going to wait till they fledge and hope to be there when they do.
I have a couple of questions......
I'm guessing Bewick's Wrens don't reuse their nests.
Do you think if I cleaned out the first box they would have gone back and built a new nest?
Do Bewick's Wren have more than two clutches a season?
BF is a nice place to spell this all out. Thanks everyone.
I can't believe it. I knew the male built a new nest in a different box but I never saw the female help after she took off with her other two chicks. You may remember, only one of those chick survived. My updates on the first box/clutch can be found in gw4aurora Nest box activity 2016.
During the first nesting box the male paraded around the backyard running the fence line. I think he was a first time father, over excited about his new mate and not really knowing how to act or what to do. I say this cuz last year he never found a mate, spent most of his days singing.
I'm also suspect of the female, the first clutch had only two eggs.....what's up with that?
Anyway, during this clutch I hardly saw the male. I've been doing a lot of work in the back so I would have noticed if he kept to his pattern of behavior. He was singing in the morning, evening, and occasionally in the afternoon. Now that the eggs hatched he's singing more often.
Yesterday I heard some soft chirping, thought it was the sparrows nesting in my neighbor's soffits. Don't know how many clutches sparrows have but it seems like they nests year round?
This morning I decided to hunt down the chirping. As soon I go out, I see one of the wrens on the fences line headed for the nest box, insect in it's beak. Sure enough, he/she dives in the box and I can hear chicks squealin' away.
Shortly there after, the mate shows up with more food. First time I've seen those two together since the 24th of April, the day after the first fledging 5 weeks ago.
The time line for the clutch and the date of the upcoming fledge is hard to determine. The female was still dragging around and feeding her one chick 3 weeks ago, saw them together last on the 8th of May. This new activity, feeding the chicks, leads me to suspect the hatching was a few days ago. Doing the math, the eggs probably got laid around the 13th. The fledging should take place around the 5th of June.
It appears the female wren gave herself 3 weeks in between broods.
I relocated their new box to the side of the house, gives them a nice fly way with not as much sun. Photos will be hard to take; the walkway is about 4 foot wide with an obstructive view at the open end.
As for the photos.....
The fence/gate is to give you an idea of where I placed their new nest box. The box is nailed near to the top of the fence on the back side. I got a shot of the box on the other side.
Included is a shot of the wren inspecting the box at the old location. The box was moved due to the direct sun and sparrow harassment.
The last shot is the wren today at the new box after feeding the chicks.
I have no intentions of taking any more photos. The view/access is intrusive, no need to stress them out, I'm going to wait till they fledge and hope to be there when they do.
I have a couple of questions......
I'm guessing Bewick's Wrens don't reuse their nests.
Do you think if I cleaned out the first box they would have gone back and built a new nest?
Do Bewick's Wren have more than two clutches a season?
BF is a nice place to spell this all out. Thanks everyone.