Rita the Recycling Bin Wren

While Mr. Tennis and I were goofing off in SoBe, Rita, the Wren was a busy bird.  We knew she had been flitting in and out of an old recycling bin and had seen the mess of sticks she had amassed.  But we hadn't seen her since we had been back.

We thought she had abandoned her efforts and tossed our newspaper wrapper in there one morning after we returned.

Right after the toss, we remembered and thought we'd better check to make sure she had indeed flown the coop.  Mr. Tennis tilted the bin and out flew Rita!  I couldn't believe it.  She hadn't moved a feather after being pummeled with plastic newspaper bags!  Then I looked closer and saw that she had made the typical wren nest out of all my yard clippings she had been gathering.  They always build an enclosed nest with a round "door", if you will.  When I peered closer I saw fluff.  OMG, there were babies in there! We gently removed the plastic bags and righted the bin and slunk away.

We felt awful and then amazed that Rita was so dedicated to her hatchlings that she had stoically sat in there while we carelessly threw trash in her house.

Rita's been flying in and out of the bin all day and the last time I saw her take off I got a ladder and lowered my camera very carefully down by the nest and was able to get a glimpse of Rita's offspring.

Aren't they adorable?  Now I'm worried about how they are going to learn to fly from the inside of that bin.  I shouldn't worry though, because Rita's in charge and she is one determined mom.