Thursday, November 20, 2008

Charmers



















There is no downside to wrens. They are all charm: pretty, petite, peaceable and chatty. They mate for life. This time of year they flit among the fallen leaves, so light and quick in their movements that they seem barely real, like fairies of the autumn woods. It’s impossible not to love them.

"Dismembers large insects by hammering with its bill and shaking it until small pieces break off."**

Of course, if I were a bug, a failure of love might be possible.



**From the Carolina Wren page at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Photo by Ken Thomas from Wikimedia Commons.

5 comments:

Julie H. Rose said...

What a beautiful photograph. Even tho' I'm a pretty avid birder, I've only seen a wren once!

Thanks - you reminded me that I've been meaning to link to the Cornell Lab for quite a while, but keep forgetting.

Anonymous said...

Has Cornell turned up any more evidence of the ivory-billed woodpecker?

BitterGrace said...

Wrens don't do well in the cold, Julie, so I'm not surprised you don't see them up your way. They can be pretty elusive in thick forest, even when there are a lot of them. We went to see the coastal redwoods in California last month, and it was so frustrating to be unable to get a look at the Western wrens--they were incredibly good at hiding in the brush.

Nope, still no sign of an ivory-billed, Bozo. I can't remember if I've blogged about it here or on the old blog, but I have been and remain a sad skeptic on this subject. I think that bird is gone forever.

Anonymous said...

Miss Moon says, "Bonbons! My favorite!"

BitterGrace said...

Ms. Moon has excellent taste, I'm sure.