May 21

I finally took down the old wren house that has been precipitously hanging by a rusty nail in an old oak just within the berm. For the past few years, a wren pair has called this box home, raising often two broods in the summer into fall, always flitting in and out to get food, and trilling incessantly in the manner of the wrens.

I built that box when we first arrived in Paxton, and the years and occupants have taken their toll, with rotting roof and chewed front hole. I recall haphazardly using the first hole saw I could find to create the entry, not really caring about the bird’s preference. Even the house was fashioned with no plan to speak of. It was simply a box with a lid, and a trap door underneath so that I could clean out the nest each spring.

Our wrens are just returning this past week or so, as we’ve heard them trilling and flitting about. I spent a few hours last weekend making a precise wren house, fashioned from plans by the Audubon Society and with a 1.25” entry hole and vented ceilings. I had placed the new box on a stainless steel nail driven in the same location. The old box lay sitting upright on the top of the compost pile.

Today, the new box remains untouched, though I’ve seen the wrens sitting on the roof of the old one.