Wrens

[notgreenfingers]

So excited we seem to have wrens in our garden but now i don't know what to do about the garden clearing. My other half said we can't cut down the bushes they are using as wrens always come back to the same nesting spot & if we cut them down they will have no home. Problem is said bush is right where my new veg patch is meant to go. Would it help if i provide nest boxes? there plenty of other hedges & trees in the garden that are not being removed surely they would just transfer?

[rustylady]

If you need to clear, then clear. As long as there is alternative accommodation and there are no eggs or babies (unlikely at this time of year) the wrens should be fine

[TEB]

A male wren will build several nests and a female may or may not accept it, they will find somewhere else. We have a wren nests that wasn't reused this year but the wrens are still around.

[notgreenfingers]

thanks for the replies, you've put my mind at rest i did'nt want to have homeless wrens. They are so pretty my cat is particulary interested in them good job he's a house cat as they keep landing on the windowsill & taunting him

[wellie]

I'm kind of talking well over ten years ago now, but I had a hanging basket outside of the back door, and, very unlike me, I didn't clear away the dead stuff at the end of the year from the basket, and the next Spring, the Jenny Wren had made a nest in it, and we had ten babies there. It was completely magical, and I can still see their little open beaks now as if it were yesterday.

Nature will be nature, and always finds a solution to the problematical question even before a human could think of posing it, if you want my opinion....!

Go for it, clear it, and purposely designate areas 'anew' for your wildlife.

[gojiberry]

I have found up to three wrens nests built in the same year and none were used, didn't find out where they finally set up a nest.

Ian

[wellie]

And now that Trousers and I live here now, our wildlife's superbly different, and excitingly so.
Venturing into the garage the other day, I disturbed a Jenny Wren.
To be honest with you, there's been two of them foraging for grubs in the garden lately, and if they decide to settle in the garage for a bit of a nest, they're jolly welcome.

[BUFFS]

twofold

we have two wren families(or one cock spreading himself about),a nest in the front garden and one in the flue of the barbie(brickbuilt),they are the most wonderful birds to watch..

[Cerinthe]

January this year my OH cut down about 150 yards of over grown hedgerow that included some quite big trees, I argued against doing it .
He made what he calls a stick hedge, where he leaves the stumps of trees and bushes and weaves the cut branches in and out, if you can see what i mean.
In the summer the stumps had made new growth which grew up through the woven branches. It looked beautiful and was alive with small birds which included whole families of wrens. It was lovely just to sit and watch all this coming and going.
So I would go ahead and cut your bushes and make your veg patch and think of the Robins that will visit while you're digging.

[Two_Sheds]

Mr TS keeps saying there's a wren in our front garden, but I never saw it. Until today! (should I tell him it's actually a female sparrow?)

[SueA]

Aww, don't be mean T.S.!
We've got a wren in our front garden too I've spotted it hopping about in the mahonia bush, not sure if it's eating the berries or just sheltering there.
Talking about wrens in bushes, bird boxes & sheds etc. I have one of those roost pockets hung up but it seems to be just sparrows who sit in there at the moment, I've read about dozens of wrens cuddling up together to sleep in boxes for warmth in winter! The males fight like mad during the breeding season though!

[binley100]

The male wren builds lots of nests and then takes the Missus round to inspect them and she then decides which one is going to be their des. res. for that year .......like Flum we had a family set up home in a wall basket near the back door , I was sat in the conservatory one day with the dog we had at the time and watched as the babies left the nest for the first time ......so close to where I was sitting. Amazing....