Richard Loller--Invasions of the Wrens

Invasions of the Wrens

Richard Loller

Richard here, reporting on a strange event. Yesterday was January 21, 2024, and temps had been in the single digits for several days.

Sherry went up to the attic to take some Christmas boxes and when she turned on the light, she discovered a wren in that very cold, dark place. She said it was chirpping and flying all around her and that it looked weak and confused. Sherry thought we should try to catch it, but it was very cold outside and almost dark. So instead we put some food and water for it in the attic - suet, birdseed, peanut butter, and a small bowl of water. We left the attic light on, hoping the wren would find it. Later Sherry went upstairs to make a second feeding station for the bird in case it didn't find the first one.

Early the next morning I was sitting on the couch watching the birds at the feeders as I always do. Sherry was still in bed. I noticed that the dogs and the cat were acting a little strange. Our dog Rosie kept looking up at the top of the windows. I finally saw that there was a wren trying to get out the window, so I yelled at the dogs to go away and I opened the window. About that time Sherry came in to see what all the yelling was about.

The wren kept fluttering everywhere except out the window. Finally it went down on the floor and under the TV stand, very convenient for the cat. While I was trying to get the wren off the floor, it jumped up on the window sill and flew out the window.

We couldn't figure out how the wren got out of the attic and downstairs, so I decided to go upstairs and find out if the one in the attic was still there. When I got there I saw no wren, but the water was frozen solid so I took the bowl to the upstairs bathroom to refill it.When I opened the door, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a wren fluttering against the bathroom window, trying to get out. I shut the door quickly, put down the bowl in the hallway, then slipped back into the bathroom.

I opened the window, which fortunately did not have a screen. After that it was back and forth, up and down, on top of the medicine cabinet, behind the shower curtains--trying to get the damn wren to go out the window--which it finally did. When I came downstairs I told Sherry what happened and, after wracking our brains, we finally figured it out.

The downstairs bird had to have come in through the doggie door.

The bathroom bird's story is a bit more complicated. When Sherry went upstairs to put out a second feeding station for the wren, there was not a sign of the wren in our cavernous attic, so she thought it had taken refuge in one of the many inaccessible areas. She had left the attic and bathroom doors open while she was arranging the second batch of food and getting the water. While she was doing that, the wren must have slipped out and flown into the bathroom. When Sherry finished in the attic, she closed both doors, never dreaming that a wren might have silently flown out of the attic and into the bathroom.

They don't call them house wrens for nothing.

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