The past few days there have been a pair of Bewick's Wrens busily poking
about on our back deck checking out the neighborhood for a place to raise a
family I hope. We have some wren sized nest boxes close by so maybe they
will settle for one of these. However, this morning I saw one of them fly
up under the roof of our outdoor barbecue pit and I am suspicious there may
be a nest there before long. These wrens have been around before. One year
they occupied a nest box placed in our backyard shade garden well away from
the house. This year maybe they will come closer to moving in with us.

These little guys make nests in strange places sometimes. My friend John
Crosetto, who lives in the Hilltop neighborhood of Bellevue tells a story of
a pair of Bewick's Wrens that made a nest inside an outbuilding where he
spent time building model airplanes directly above where he sat working much
of the time. He later put nest boxes outside under the eaves and the pair
accepted one of them for raising a family. When the young ones were
fledging, one of them became entangled with a piece of hair from the nest.
it was wrapped around one leg and the little guy couldn't get loose. John
very carefully unwrapped the hair from the leg and put the little bird in a
small box lined with something soft and placed it close to the nest box.
Returning a short while later the youngster was gone. Then John felt
something brush his cheek and it was one of the parents. He says it was as
if they were thanking him for his good deed. He and the Wrens have been on
good terms ever since and they still nest there.

John's daughter is a very talented artist and she has created a small book
about this episode with the story and some very good water color
illustrations in it. It's very well done like a children's book. I don't
know if it is published any where or not but I think it should be. John
proudly shows it off when telling the story himself.

Edwin Lamb in Bellevue, WA
mail to:edsplace2 at comcast.net