Carolina Wren at nest (image from USF&WS)
I've returned to walking the Pheasant Branch creek corridor trail and will be visiting this part of the conservancy daily from now until warbler migration subsides in early October. I was pleasantly surprised to find a singing Carolina Wren in the patch of woods between the creek corridor and Parisi Park today. About a decade ago there were hardly ever any Carolina Wrens at PBC, but they established a solid population in 2006. After a few years of having them there in good numbers, I guess I took them a little for granted. In 2010 they abruptly vanished from the corridor and I really missed their cheerful and bold song during my early morning birding excursions. As you can see from the chart below, now they're only occasionally observed at Pheasant Branch today. I hope this sighting marks a beginning of their return.
Though this species was once fairly common at Pheasant Branch Conservancy, I haven't been able to get a nice profile pose of one. Here's one of the best shots I have of a Carolina Wren:
Pheasant Branch, Dane, US-WI
Aug 7, 2012 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
45 species
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
American Redstart
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Meadowlark
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Bottom Carolina Wren © 2012 Mike McDowell