Winter Wren Work

 

This Winter Wren was seen on a 
Christmas Bird Count in 2019

  Just because I am not keeping a list doesn't mean I don't have goals for the year. There are certain birds I want to see. There will always be photo upgrades to get. There are places I want to visit at certain times of the year. 

   One of my goals was to find a Winter Wren. The truth is, Winter Wrens are a very shy little bird. They are not common, but they are not rare either. I probably would come across a couple without even trying with as much as I am out. Still, since it was on my list, I have been going out of my way to find these adorable little guys. The catch, no using playback.

   I made a decision a while ago not to use playback to get birds to show themselves. Others do, and I don't care. I've gotten good looks at birds because others have. But for me, I made the decision not to. The thing about Winter Wrens is they are skulkers. They like to hide in the brush unseen. But they also come out very easily if someone plays their song. I made a choice that I wanted to find Winter Wrens (and all other birds) the hard way.

   Today was at least my third attempt to find Winter Wrens this year. They like wet marshy type areas with mud. I know a few of those spots and have been checking them on a regular basis. There have been a couple times I've seen a flash of a little bird dart off into the brush that I'm sure were Winter Wrens, but never saw them enough to ID.

   Today as i was walking up the road from my car the same thing happened. A little brown shadow slipped into the underbrush. I waited a few minutes but it didn't come back out. I walked further up the road then back down the other side. I went back to the same spot roughly 40 minutes later. Quite a few White Throated Sparrows moved in and were feeding. Feeding along side of them in deep cover twenty feet from the road was my Winter Wren! I watched it go back and forth in and out of site for a minute before it disappeared for good. Obviously, I didn't get a picture but I knew I wasn't going to.

   I probably spent two hours this year looking for that bird. The cray thing is I knew where it was. It was just a matter of seeing it. I earned the right to cross that one of of my 2021 goal list. Now as Bill Belichick would say...on to Yellow Breasted Chat.