2023, animals, Mysteries, Nature, Songs

Dive-Bombed

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We have finally identified the bird living in the birdhouse – it’s a house wren!   It took a while because she (I have no clue but I like to think of her as a her) hangs around near the birdhouse but is a little skittish about going in and out while we’re in the yard. I’m also not a whizz where bird identification is concerned.

She sings like crazy.  I’m not sure how birds do it; I’d need throat lozenges every night if I gave out as much as they do.  On Saturday, I was lounging about in the backyard and I thought I’d doublecheck my identification, just to make sure.  She was hanging about, singing her little heart out so I figured comparing her birdsong to bird calls on the internet would be interesting.  I opened the first website I found and hit play.

Her reaction was immediate.  She lit off her branch and came straight at me.  She didn’t get too close for comfort, but it was definitely a warning.  No other house wrens allowed in her yard.   I did it again on Sunday to see if it had just been a fluke.  No fluke.  She definitely did not want any competition and came at me again.  No more bird calls off the internet for me!

Any loud persistent folks in your life?

24 thoughts on “Dive-Bombed”

  1. The free bird identification app, Merlin from Cornell University, is what you must have. It’s easy to use and quite addictive in a good way.

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  2. I do have a persistent co-worker at UU, not necessarily loud, but she can be. I can only hope I have as much brainpower and energy in 10 years as she does.

    On the topic of animal ID-ing… has anyone ever seen a regular gray squirrel with a red-squirrel colored tail? I have at least two of them around here…

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  3. A robin has built a nest atop the light on our front stoep. The bird flies off every time we go out the front door. It has been feasting on the earthworms in the front veggie bed.

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  4. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    We almost always have wrens in the yard, in one of two birdhouses we have for them. But no action yet this season. They are in the neighborhood. The nickname I always heard for them is “Jenny Wren” which I love. When we get robins nesting near our doors we drive them off because those nests, so poorly placed, rarely produce live nestlings.

    I had a client for a time who was quite loud and persistent. She finally fired me after I set some limits on that. Years ago I also had a co-worker in an adjacent cubicle who was very loud on the phone, and she was usually up to no good. As in using Unnamed County resources to retrieve her drunk husband. I also overheard several conversations with her soft spoken supervisor confronting her about such practices, but she just overwhelmed him with verbiage.

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  6. Had a loud golf buddy (in a good way–he’s very gregarious but not afraid to speak his mind). He moved on to a different golf course a few years ago.

    It was usually funny when he blurted out whatever, but sometimes he went a bit too far (like yelling at a foursome in front of us for slow play and almost getting into a fistfight. Not too smart for a 70-year-old guy who never exercised a day in his life, drank like a fish, smoked for decades, and ate to excess.

    Yet he’s still alive. Go figure. Must be longevity genes because his mother lived to be 98 or so.

    Tangential to the wren story, I just bought a new squirrelproof bird feeder but the local birds have ignored it for close to a week. I know they don’t feed as much in spring/summer when natural food is plentiful, but they were using the old feeder regularly before that. Is it normal for birds to be wary of a new feeder? Are they dissing me because it’s too fancy and they’re working-class birds who just want a simple place to hang out and chow down and don’t mind the squirrels hogging their seeds? Should I move it to a new location? I hung it from the same pole the other one had been on for years.

    Chris in Owatonna

    *BSP* So I don’t forget to remind you, I’ve got two book signing events this week. Downtown Thursday from 5-9 on North Cedar in downtown Owatonna. Lots of food vendors, two featured bands at the bandshell in Central Park, and good shopping and people-watching on the 100-300 blocks of North Cedar.

    Then on Saturday, I’ll again be at the Riverwalk Market Fair at Bridge Square in downtown Northfield. It’s a pleasant, compact, laidback event with some 30-40 vendors of all sorts, food, music, and even a balloon animal artist for the kiddies. I signed up for 6 total RMFs in Northfield and would love to see some Baboons check it out and come say “Hi” to your favorite (or most annoying!) author. 🙂 *End BSP*

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  7. I have a coworker who is very loud and quite unaware of how she comes across. I believe she has ADHD that is untreated. I have to bite my tongue when she gets really loud to not ask her if she forgot to take her Ritalin.

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  8. There were a couple of coworkers who were quite talkative and one of them had a loud voice. She was the kind of person who would talk over you and just keep on talking. There wasn’t much point in having a conversation with her. The other one just talked and talked endlessly, mostly about her constant medical problems. I’ve known a lot of talkers. If they actually converse, it’s one thing, but just endless noise is hard to take.

    Wrens are known to be territorial and they have long, loud songs. Once there was a wren who made a nest in the end of one of those iron clothesline T-posts. It was really hard to hang up clothes.

    I’m not really a fan of robins anymore. I mean, they’re nice birds and, being warblers, they sing lots of nice songs. But they are so messy and poop large globs of poop everywhere. Good luck with having one right over your door…

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