Spring Has Sprung!

Wren House in Cranberry Bush

The snow is almost gone! Hallelujah! It was terribly windy, yesterday, but it was warm. I looked out the window in the morning and Jack’s vegetable garden was still covered with a layer of snow. By dinner time the snow was gone.

The ice has started to go out on the lake – it’s melted along our beach and it looks soft and mushy beyond that. Funny about the ice going out…one day it’s there and the next it’s gone. A couple of idiots were snowmobiling on it on Sunday. But that’s an entirely different rant…for another time.

This is a picture of the little wren house in a cranberry bush outside our kitchen window. We can also see it from the bathroom that’s near the kitchen. In fact, when the cranberry bush is all leafed out it pretty much hides the bathroom window. A perfect vantage point for all the comings and goings in the cranberry bush which, by the way, is huge. It’s really a small tree – probably ten feet tall.

Anyway, every year a house wren builds a little nest in that wren house and we watch from the time she hops in with her first beakfull of straw until the babies are gone. If we’re outside and get a little to close for comfort she scolds us. Whenever I walk under the bush (it’s very tall) I always say, “Just passing through – not to worry.” Pretty cool.

The past couple of years a robin also has constructed a nest in the branches above the wren house and that’s awesome because we can see the eggs after she lays them. After they hatch we watch them with their little beaks wide open waiting for their mama to bring them a nice juicy worm or bug or whatever it is they eat. Worms, I think.

The little ones grow quickly. The mama (or papa) still sits on the nest to keep them warm. When the babies are almost as big as the mother, she pretty much has to cling to whatever part of the nest isn’t covered by the babies. It’s a kick.

Last year, though, at some point after the robin laid her eggs I happened to walk past the cranberry bush and saw the little blue eggs smashed all over the ground. I was sure that a squirrel was the guilty party. Darned squirrels. Made me mad.

My friend, Karen, (who is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Mother Nature’s creatures) told me that sometimes a wren will destroy a robin’s nest. I don’t know why. Probably because the robin is vying for the same worms that the wren wants. I cannot believe that our cute little wrens with their sweet song would be that aggressive!

I told Jack that it’s like the cranberry bush is a little village with discrimination – if you’re not a wren, you’re not welcome. I’m going to have to keep an eye on that wren, this year. Maybe the robin won’t come back. Or maybe they’ll live in harmony. Just like we humans do. Uh huh.

I’ll keep you posted on the comings and goings in the cranberry bush.