The spring and summer also brought beautiful songbirds to the bird houses and to our feeders. This little guy (or gal) is a Bewick’s wren. They use this nest box at the farm every year, and usually raise a brood of five babies.
Another wren nested in one of the hanging baskets on our front porch in Austin. I was able to peek in every day, and watched the little ones from eggs to fledging. I know I have photos of the nest, but I can't for the life of me find it right now. I'll add the image when I can locate it.
The most spectacular of our feathered visitors, however, were the painted buntings. I don’t know how many families visited our feeders, but there were always several adults and fledglings in the area.
The young ones are pretty nondescript, but they are very persistent. Father Bunting was hounded mercilessly, and he dutifully made trip after trip to the feeder to bring them seeds.
Painted buntings prefer white millet seed, and the hatchlings finally got the message and began visiting the feeder themselves.
They were endlessly entertaining, and we look forward to their return next spring.
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