FLEDGE!!!!!!

I was in the shower and both the house phone and my cell were ringing and ringing; I knew it was Linda because my phone was barking at me.  She had just gotten home and found fledgling birds all over the carport!  Mind you, I had looked at them in the nest no more than 20 minutes earlier!!!  They must have just fledged.

Linda: I came home today and walked toward the carport with all my bags, planning to stop and peek in the Carolina wren nest.  As I got closer I could hear lots of cheeping, so I kept looking at the nest to see what was going on.  All if a sudden I noticed movement on the ground.  I peered into the carport and gradually made out four tiny balls of fluff hopping around the floor of the carport right under the nest!  I quickly backed out of the carport and called Diane, afraid that she, or she and the dog, would come out of the house, into the carport, and step on one of the babies...

Just fledged!!!  Still hopping with no flight.
It hasn't grown into its feet yet! (Photo L.Murdock)

I ran out the front door (which we never use!) and stood with Linda watching the miracle of 5 little freshly fledged Carolina Wrens hopping around the carport!  Their wings were so stubby, there is no way they could fly yet, but the way we've seen them grow and change in just a few hours, that might be very temporary.  When Linda got home, they were still all clustered just under the nest, but by the time I got out there, they had scattered all over the carport, hopping around.  I had just shown the nest to the UPS deliveryman about 20 minutes earlier, so I know they were in the nest then.  We estimate fledge time to be ~4:30 PM, May 16, 2014. The 15 second movie below shows the tentative hopping -- it is dark but you can see the movement.  The 2nd movie is easier to see and the little guy is moving around much faster and more adeptly!  They were about 2 hours apart.

The little fledglings were scattered all over the carport, hopping and cheeping, and the mama bird was getting quite agitated, so we departed.  We came out a bit later and she had corralled all of them into a QUIET little lump of feathers, up against the dark side of the garbage barrel.  Three were in a row, wing to wing, with two others behind and on top of the bottom three -- quite regimented.  
 
Later in the evening, we peeked down over the edge of the upstairs porch (over the carport) to find that the birds were in a little clump near the front of the carport,
in a pile of leaves, and the parents were feeding them.  The picture below was taken from above, looking down. 

Parent Carolina Wren (left) feeding fledglings

Notice that there are only four fledglings there now.  We never again saw five.  The fifth could have been the oldest/largest and have taken off more on its own, or it could have become someone's supper.

When I went out before bed so that Blake could do his business, all four were huddled together so tightly that it just looked like a brown lump in the leaves.  Had I not seen them earlier, I never would have even noticed the clump, let alone known that it was a feathered ball!

They were in the same place this morning (Saturday, May 17) when Blake and I went out, but beginning to move around.  Parents were feeding them. Later when we peeked over the side of the porch, one was in the stones below and the others were nowhere to be seen.  Later still, Linda spotted them in the woods!  All had been relocated to a safer place.  I'm glad they spent the night in the carport, though, as it was raining HARD all night. 

In the picture below, notice one adult (papa?) is on the left end of the branch.  He had just fed one of the fledglings, but it is impossible to find the little one, unless you know where he is!  You can try...  looking at the long, horizontal branch, find the right-most piece of lichen on the branch, come forward just a little bit and there is a lighter colored plant. Now go forward & left from the lighter plant just a tiny bit and there is a darker lump.  That is the fledgling.  What do you mean you can't tell that it is a bird?!?  Well, we couldn't either, but we saw papa feed it! (If you double click on the picture, a slightly larger version will come up.)

They took to the woods... (Carolina Wren fledgling hidden in leaves - papa on left)

It has been quite a couple of days.  Below are some pictures taken in the last 24 hours before fledge. 

Penultimate day in the nest (Carolina Wren nestlings)

Carolina Wren nestlings 3 hours before fledging - look at the size of those feet!

Good luck little birds; may you be safe, live long and thrive!  And come back here to nest in our wreath; there will always be one on the wall for you!