I wonder if you get bored by my little reports about some animals I follow with my camera throughout the season but at least I hope you enjoy the photos that sometimes can tell a story better than any words can do. One of the bird species I follow every year are the House Wrens that have their nest either in a bird box in our front yard or, like at the moment, in a gourd hanging from our porch. The young birds of the second brood are still in the nest and I was wondering why I saw suddenly four wrens sitting in the dead cedar branch that we use as a perch for the birds. The question was answered pretty fast when one of the adults started feeding one of them with an insect it just had caught. It was the offspring from their first brood that came "home" for a snack. Usually we never see them again after they left the nest but obviously they are still around here.
I have lots of photos from our wrens and the challenge is now to photograph them in a pose that is beyond the ordinary "sitting bird" pose. Some actions last only a couple seconds, like in the second image showing the bird scratching its neck. The other time to get the camera out is when a light situation looks promising. Early morning is a good time for it at our location.
The adult birds approach the nest every few minutes and always with food in their bills. The amount of food the young wrens eat is amazing. We still don't know how many juveniles are in the nest but I can tell you, they cry very loud as soon the adults bring another snack to the nest. Maybe that made their older siblings a little jealous and drew them back home, who knows... ;-)