Awwwwww, I love the Carolina Wrens. So cute, and not very shy at all. What an endeavor to build a nest in that location!

I've got a couple of small birds hiding out in my big honeysuckle right now, by the suet feeder I put out. I can't get close enough to ID them right now, the Honeysuckle is such a tangled web of foliage and stems, and they holler at me to get back in the house so they can have access to their suet. I love the birds, too, so thanks for sharing the photo.

Now, that is one big batch of eggs on that little stem! Maybe she's saving her energy by laying them all at once.

Susan

Those wrens are so darned funny! Can you believe that such a little bird has such a BIG voice?

Dorie

They sure do have big voices! TEA KETTLE, TEA KETTLE, TEA KETTLE!
I'm a total nature nut, Susan, love the butterflies, birds, even the frogs and bugs!
I'll be checking the vines for more pipevine swallowtail eggs.
Sherry

Wow, it looks like she left you the mother lode there, Sherry! ;-) I think the most I ever had in a bunch was about 24. They're my very favorite caterpillar to raise. I love to put a few lengths of vine in a big storage container and watch the cats scurry along on their way to somewhere that I guess they have in mind. They always make it look like it's urgent. Ha.

That's a Carolina wren for ya, building a nest in such a strange place. One year I had a pair build a nest on one of the shelves in my workshop after those little opportunists sneaked in there a few days when I had the door open and made themselves right at home. I didn't shut the door again until after the babies fledged. I have bluebird houses stacked up in our corncrib and one year the Carolina wrens made a nest in one of them even with it turned upside down. My dad had one build a nest in his fishing net one yet. Out of all of the birds that I get here, I call them the most eccentric. :) They sure are cute little things and they love the peanut butter/cornmeal/shortening mix that I put out in a log feeder for them in the winter.
Cathy

They sure are cute, Cathy! They're very bold, coming right up on my porch to check out the caterpillars in the cages, always keep me entertained!
I found another, smaller cluster of pipevine swallowtail eggs on a vine group on another fence in my garden. They usually lay a couple of clusters each day for three or four days before they're done. They're my favorite caterpillar and adult butterfly, also, Cathy.
I also found two American lady nests on some cudweed. I may or may not bring them in to finish raising.
Sherry

I just started getting the Carolina Wrens a couple years ago. The first year, I didn't see a lot of them, but last year, they were everywhere I looked. They like to walk around on the ground where they can snack on grass seeds, other seeds, and they will let me get within 4 or 5 feet to observe them. I love those perky little tailfeathers!

I never see them very high off the ground, do you guys? They just stay low in foliage and on the ground looking for food. I wish I would get a nest of them. I leave lots of strings, "fluffy" material, dead plant prunings, etc., around the yard for all the birds to utilize for nest building. I do have a family of Cardinals that have been with me for years. They have claimed my potted Blueberries "theirs" whenever they fruit. But they are hilarious to watch as they scrounge around in the pots and yank the herries off.

I am a nature lover, too, MissSherry. All are welcome to dine at the Inn, nest, and raise their young.

Susan

Cute--can't wait to show my daughter the nest of eggs--she adores birds' eggs. Wish I could afford to get her the replicas but may have to try to paint some...They look like they have a little sprinkle of cinnamon. :)

That's a great pic of the Pipevine eggs too. We're supposed to get them here, so I'll have to get some pipevine.

Is that A. tomentosa, MissSherry, and how big is it right now? Mine are just starting to leaf out.

Altho it is not time for it to emerge yet, I think I lost my A. clematitis in the drought last year. I just couldn't get it watered in the backyard because it's getting too expensive for me to water back there.

Susan

I hope you haven't lost your A. clematitis, Susan. Mine have slowly died out, so I don't get the impression it's very long lived.
Yes, it's the A. tomentosa in the picture. They've colonized all down the entire length of one side of the garden fence and partly on the real long side. They've thrown out new shoots, some of which are about 15" long - they'll grow VERY quickly from now until spring is over, then slow down considerably when it gets hot. A. tomentosa have proven to be the most reliable host plant for pipevine swallowtails for me. My VA snakeroot/A. serpentarias have mostly died out also - they might have reseeded, but the caterpillars would eat the entire plants down to the nub before any of them ever got a chance to bloom - I would have liked to have seen a bloom in my garden.
Sherry