Back a few weeks ago at the beginning of a miserable cold spell I went out to the greenhouse to pot camellia cuttings I brought home from Mobile. When I opened the door, I noticed a small Carolina Wren flying around inside. I thought to myself that this is one lucky bird that I decided to come out here when I did or this poor bird would have starved to death. I propped the door open and spent several minutes herding the bird toward the door listening to Blackie bark and run around inside the greenhouse until the bird finally flew out. Blackie chased it as far as the underground fence would allow. Silly dog thinks that she’s going to be able to catch a bird flying 15 feet above her head.
This evening I went out to water the plants and cuttings overwintering in the greenhouse, and there was the wren again! I had been in the greenhouse earlier in the day making up potting mix for my Christmas cactus and African violets and it wasn’t in there. Apparently the bird is roosting inside the greenhouse at night. If there is a hole large enough for it to get in, there’s a large amount of cold air getting in the house. With temps down to 7 during the cold spell, a pot containing a florist azalea that I was overwintering in the greenhouse shattered. Bet the wren was chuckling at me after she let herself back in the greenhouse that night.
Wrens may be small but they are one of the boldest birds. One in my yard made a nest in a fertilizer bag each year until I stopped using fertilizer. Then she moved to a garbage can I kept perlite in. Forget about putting up one of those fancy wren houses, they won’t use them. Hanging baskets or anything hanging up on a wall are a favorite. One year I had one make a nest in an empty onion bag. This past year I had one that made a nest on a shelf in my back garage. The only place that she could have gotten in was through the opening for the dog door which the dogs had broken. I put her nest in a hanging basket by the overhead doors, hoping she would move there. I wouldn’t have anything intact in the garage if I let her fledge around the hooligans. One tried to roost at night in some of the hanging baskets I’m over wintering in the house garage. Blackie and Patches finally convinced it to go elsewhere.
Rosedale Gardens 