Wrens have always been one of my favorite birds. Going all the way back to my college days when I took ornithology at Trevecca College, I have loved wrens.
They are so perky with their little upturned tails and nervous, jerky movements. Keep some shelled peanuts out, and you will never be without wrens. They will keep spiders under control around your home. They love to stalk spiders.
I wrote a term paper titled “The Nesting Habits of Wrens.” The bottom line is that they have no predictable nesting habits. The one rule is, “Anything goes.” I cataloged the contents of a wren nest, and I remember it had an ice-cream wrapper, a shoelace and a half dozen strange ingredients.
I wish I had kept that term paper, but that was years before starting a personal journal. Nothing will make you aware of the value of keeping what Norman Vincent Peale called “the precious little souvenirs and pieces of your everyday life” like a personal journal.
My love for wrens has caused me to want to attach one of those suction-cup nests to a window with a quarter-size opening, which is the size wrens prefer, and maybe next year will be the year I finally get to it. I want to watch them build a nest.