Little bird has such big voice
I WAS walking past a neighbour’s garden when I spotted a tiny bird hopping from the plants onto the wall.
I stood still and the wren watched me for more than 30 seconds, which is my longest wren encounter in quite a long while.
It is always a pleasure to see a wren but by the time I got out my phone and selected ‘video’, it was off.
It vanished behind a road sign and then observed me some more from another garden wall across the road.
I generally see wrens when I am wandering over a boardwalk in our local woods – I stress local as we are not allowed to travel far at the moment and I think that is a good rule.
We have lots of brilliant wildlife on all of our doorsteps if we are willing to look.
Until I looked into it, I thought the wrens might be nesting under the boardwalk, but this is unlikely as they build domed nests in sheltered bushes and rock crevices.
The nest will be made out of moss and twigs and many will be building them just about now ready for spring’s eggs and chicks.
The wren will search walls, rock crevices and bushes for insects to eat.
We often get a wren searching for food in and around our garden, because we have stone walls with lots of nooks and crannies.
The Wildlife Trust has created areas where there are stone walls and other places that birds can seek snacks on its reserves around the North West and further afield.
It is wonderful to see and hear this tiny bird – it has a massive voice which can be ear-splitting when it lets rip on a summer’s day.
Its song is a rolling twitter, tweet and trill and you can certainly hear it.
It is a most delightful bird because of its cocked tail and white eye mask, it has a mainly brown body.
It is actually one of the UK’s most common breeding birds, reportedly more common down south than up here.
So why do I see one almost every day?
After a snowy and cold month, I am always concerned about small birds like the wren but they always seem to come back stronger than ever.
Seeing a wren in winter certainly puts my shivers into perspective, as I wear three or four layers against the cold.
Yes, don’t be moaning about taking the dog for a walk for half an hour in the cold, the wren will have been out all night but still happily hops in and out of the gaps in your walls.
And seeing or hearing a wren is certainly something that has raised my spirits over the past 12 months.
I think wildlife is having that effect on many people who are making exciting discoveries in their gardens and local woods as they try to escape lockdown for a couple of hours.
Soon our wrens will be preparing nests to raise a whole new batch of chicks, so there really is something to look forward to.
STOP – I am looking out of the window at a wren sitting on the garden wall, now that is a lovely coincidence.