Early Nesting Season

Last week I noticed a small pile of fibers blowing around on the deck. That was my cue to inspect the tote bag wren house. I wrote about this "bird house" back in February. I peeked inside and sure enough, the Carolina Wrens had a complete nest built. No eggs yet, but a completed nest. We are also getting many reports from our store customers and they are also seeing birds starting to build nests already. 

In a normal season I would not expect this much nest building activity until very late in March. Of course, the retailer in me is excited by the prospect of selling more bird seed for the new broods of hungry birds! In this case, earlier is better. Then the bird watcher side of me kicks in and starts to worry about the danger of a late cold blast, which could affect the survival rate of this first batch of young.

In reality, all I can do is cheer them on and hope for the best. They are on a schedule created over countless generations of their species. Whatever the outcome of this one season, the birds seem to have a plan that - over the long term - works for them.