Attempting to read outside yesterday morning, my efforts failed once again. While the sunny, cool weather had coaxed me onto the deck, it also invigorated our local avian residents. Most conspicuous were the Carolina wrens.
As if dueling for attention, several of these vocal birds repeatedly called from various corners of the property. Two others intermittently hopped across the deck, disappearing into the adjacent shrubbery. Needless to say, my adventures with Alexander Humboldt were placed on hold.
Though not well known to non-birders, Carolina wrens provide much of the background noise in suburbs of the Eastern U.S. Their loud, ringing calls and melodies, heard in all seasons, become intense in early spring as their breeding season approaches. Easily identified by their white-eye stripe, thin, curved bill and raised tail, these small reddish-brown and buff-breasted birds are aggressive for their stature and especially noisy for their size. When they are about, outside reading is reserved for those oblivious of nature.
