Wrens

Virtually all summer visitors and migrants stopped visiting the yard about a week ago.  Other than the usual birds that we'll have all winter, a single Bushtit has been the only visitor.

A friend who furnished the primary root that is used for our watercourse  user staging told me that he had two more brush piles and I was welcome to help myself.  He has property on south Fidalgo Island and I visited the area on Thursday afternoon.  I didn't find any wood I could use but I did see an abundance of birds, so I drove back out Friday afternoon to see what I could photograph.

Several birds scattered when I drove up to the sloping meadow, but I positioned myself close to the brush pile in the middle of the property, with the sun to my back, and waited.  I didn't have to wait long.  There were two or more Bewick's wrens in the brush pile and they were very active, alternately chasing each other, searching for food and even sunning.  Wrens can be quite challenging to not only find, but also photograph since they often are quite active.  These (and other) photos were obtained over the course of almost an hour. 

Here are some of the photos...

I was a little puzzled by these first two photos.  There was long interaction between this bird and what was clearly a Bewick's wren (see photos below) but this bird lacks the eye stripe of a Bewick's wren and seems to have a lot of pattern on the wings.  I consulted with a friend who tells me that this is a House wren, so the two different wren species were apparently competing for ownership of the brush pile!   
  

 

At one point one of the birds landed on a quite steep slope of wood and spread its wings and tail for several minutes, apparently enjoying the warmth of the sun.