The tangle was not a tangle, but a carefully woven basket well-hidden among the leaves of a hybrid Nepenthes. I stopped poking at the nest when two angry Carolina wrens (Thryothorus ludoviciantus) chased me from my pergola. (Their presence in a potted carnivorous plant gave a whole new meaning to Renfield's garden.)

Insuring that the pot was hanging where no cat, raccoon, or opossum could get in, I was certain I would be able to observe the parents raise the young. Two chicks hatched. The parents were extremely attentive to the young. We were also delighted with the wren songs that filled the garden. The photograph was taken the day the chicks first ventured from the nest.

A Cuban tree frog lived in the reservoir of the hanging pot. These introduced frogs are covered with a toxic slime which kills predators. I had not considered the frog a problem for the wrens.

I learned something about Cuban tree frogs; they will eat anything. The morning following the 'photo shoot' of the birds, I found the Cuban tree frog had more than doubled in size and was barely able to move. I miss my wrens.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University has a wonderful informative page about the Carolina wren including a wave file of its song. To view the bird and listen to its song, click on the link:

http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/CAWR/