Mottled wit

On this warm september saturday, we were sitting on the sand, by the lagoon, eyeing this elegant bird methodically probing and digging with its long pointed beak. I told my nine-year-old its name. He responded, quick as a fox, sharp as a needle,  "Ah, a Marbled God-I-had-it-wit-you!" 

This bird is featured in a lovely song by the folk band The Bowerbirds in their album "Hymns for a Dark Horse", which I mean to listen to more of:

Just as I suspected...

Was Hafiz a birder too?

A little wren

Among the dwellings framed by birds
In field or forest with nice care,
Is none that with the little Wren's
In snugness may compare.

   --- from A Wren's Nest by William Wordsworth


This little House Wren has made our backyard its home. It flits from bush to bush, and makes a variety of sounds from singing in beautifully bubbly bursts to a harsh scolding chatter. 

I am thrilled to see this musical bird just outside our backdoor, but then.. I see this article about them: http://www.sialis.org/wrens.htm

It warns, ominously: 

They have been known to destroy bluebird and other cavity nester's eggs by piercing them (holes of 3 mm or less, or a large ragged hole in the middle), and then often removing them from the nest. They can remove an entire chickadee nest in a matter of hours. In one study in eastern MA, 20% of Black-capped Chickadee nests were destroyed by House Wrens. Althea Sherman reported that House Wrens destroyed eggs of 29 different birds. House Wrens may even displace the uncommon Bewick's Wren.

Then again, we don't have other cavity nesting birds around here that I know of...