Tweeters;
This is in response to Karen from Bellingham (where I was married!) and her story about the Bewick's wren building a nest in her bike bag. With scholars like Dennis Paulson (my UW prof.) out there, you don't need me to tell you that the male does most of the nest building and may even build a couple of them for a female's perusal. Maybe someone else knows whether you should let the nest stand, but more importantly, can you leave the bike idle for a couple of months? The hard rule for moving nests is, if you need to move it, do it before there are eggs. He'll build elsewhere and likely already has.
The cat sounds ominous ... have you asked the neighbor if they'd at least put a bell on the cat's collar? Are there any animal control laws in Bellingham re. cats? Since you've been able to witness this cat patrolling your porch each day, can you scare it away when it comes? How about getting a dog? They're easier on native birds, at least. Hey, does your indoor cat need a pal? ;o) Indoor cats live much longer!
Last month, I was a leader on one of the tour buses (don't ask) for a new bird event here in Carson Valley, Nevada called Eagles and Agriculture, and interestingly, a Bewick's wren was one of the highlights for some of us birders. We were on a ranch, listening to the ranch owner talk about how she does things, the people were all crowded around her, and next to them was an open metal hay shed. While she spoke, I stood in the back of the crowd to look for birds - mostly raptors - to put my scope on for the people after she was done, and the loudest Bewick's call I'd ever heard started coming from the hay shed. The rancher was on a tinny p.a. system, so none of the tourists heard it, but for me, all I could hear was this loud, trilly BW call. I spotted the bird on a tractor fender, calling away like Pavorotti. Then, he went out of the shed, called a few times, and flew right back in, where he stayed ... the acoustics were definitely better there! I looked over to the other birder on the tour, and he was focused on the wren, too, oblivious to the rancher's talk. We nodded and smiled to each other ... "Bewick!" What a cool bird ... hope yours nests successfully this year. Linda Hiller in Jacks Valley, Nevada