Carolina Wren Song

I was home on the Cape this weekend and decided to go birding in the conservation land behind my parents' house. I first went down to what I believe is a vernal pool (it has water in rainy seasons, but is mostly dried up during hot, dry periods like we're experiencing right now). I crawled down the hill and spent a long time patiently waiting in the swampy area, which looked very promising. I waited there probably about 20 minutes braving the mosquitoes and a slight case of the jitters since I was a little creeped-out about being in the woods by myself, but finally gave up and climbed back out to safety. I saw some common birds: a Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, and a Catbird.

I did a loop around the area, using my better judgement and not venturing into the woods, and finally decided to check out an area very close to the border of our land. It's at the base of a very steep hill we used to sled down in the winters, and it's made up of large rocks and a bed of pine needles on the ground. I used to play down there with my neighborhood friends, pretending the ground was water and having to jump from rock to rock without fall into the 'water.'

It was here that I heard a familiar bird song and stopped to trace it to its source. I was patient and finally was able to spot two Carolina Wrens. I ended up sitting on the soft pine needle and moss-covered ground and tried to get some pictures of the birds. It's not easy! I find Wrens nearly impossible to capture since they're so erratic and move around constantly. I managed to get one decent picture, and then thought it would be interesting to take some video and try to capture their song.

I grew up hearing so many different bird songs so it's nice when I'm able to identify the source. Especially for the birds that don't visit my mother's bird-feeders. These wrens were sneaky but I'm glad I finally tracked them down!