Monday, July 21, 2008

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!

7 comments:

Larry said...

Good job! Since we have the same camera, I can appreciate the effort you have to put in to get photo and video of a Carolina Wren.-well done.

Birdinggirl said...

Thanks Larry! I've found your bird call videos (http://brownstonebirder.blogspot.com/search/label/singing%20bird%20video) so helpful I thought I'd offer the same for my readers. Bird calls are so important in identification and I'd like to share my learnings. They might be common to some people but to others who've heard a call a million times but never traced it to its source the videos are a big help. I have to say, our camera's microphone works pretty great! My video skills will hopefull improve with more practice...

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed your carolina wren video and song. Thanks! I lived on the cape for years and really enjoyed the conservation areas. A really nice one where I saw my 1st wren in Harwich. Now I'm in Ohio and have 2 Carolina Wrens who have visited my peanut feeder all winter. Lynne

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to find your site. I have heard the song in my neighborhood for weeks but have just recently observed the wren feeding in my backyard. It's been in my hanging tray feeders filled with cracked corn and black oil sunflower seed. He's also eaten from my hanging suet feeders. I live in Southwest Iowa and didn't even know this bird existed in this area.

Anonymous said...

Having just this morning rescued one of these little fellows (caught in my chicken's netting) I went looking for his song to post on my blog. I found your site and your video and have linked your address for my friends. Thank you for the great video to share! Lynda

Birdinggirl said...

To my anonymous readers- thanks for sharing your accounts of Carolina Wrens. I should try buying cracked corn- I bet my backyard birds would love it!

@Lynda- I'm glad you found my blog. Thanks for sharing your story about rescuing the Carolina Wren in your yard. Thanks too for the link! I'll go check out your blog now :)

Anonymous said...

BirdingGirl, I have most of my bird pictures posted at the above address (my photo website) Though not all of my photos are of birds you may still find them interesting. ~ Lynda