A house wren mom has won my heart this spring and summer. The wren couple occupied a wren house set in my apricot tree this spring. For weeks now, Mom has called and hunted through the front yard, ceaselessly bringing one bug after another to the babes. She'll perch, bug in beak, and call to the young ones, and feed them when they reply. Sometimes the bugs are large and visible, other times much smaller (I'm always hoping the real small ones are ticks). She never stops, and ranges from the ground beneath some bushes to 30 feet up a dying birch, which should be full of bugs, and every level in-between.

Worry has replaced wonder, though. In the last few days, I'm not seeing or hearing her. I hope that means the young ones are on their own but fear something has happened to her, them or both. I haven't seen any sign of the house being disturbed or any tell-tale clump of feathers so I'll hope for the best.

Mother birds win our hearts because they face long and dangerous odds in raising their children. In April of 1945 as World War II raged, Wisconsin's most famous mother duck raised many a heart with her efforts to hatch and rear her ducklings on a piling next to the bridge over the Milwaukee River in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. Gordon MacQuarrie, one of Wisconsin's best outdoor writers, journalists and conservationists, tells the story much better than I can. Gertrude was the wild mallard hen and MacQuarrie recounts the spell-bounding tale and her perilous adventures in "Gertrude, the Wonderful Duck," reprinted in the MacQuarrie Miscellany (Willow Creek Press, 1987) and in a 1945 booklet, "The Story of Gertie." Tens of thousands of Milwaukee's citizens watched her brooding her eggs, a parade was diverted to avoid disturbing her, and when she and the ducklings were in harm's way on their journey to Milwaukee's lakeside, Milwaukee police rescued them and provided a full escort to their safe release. Gertrude captivated Milwaukee for a month. If this account does nothing more to lead some of you to discover or rediscover MacQuarrie, this blog will be worth it.

The spirit and character of Gertie is immortalized in a statue along Milwaukee’s River Walk. Photo courtesy of visitmiluwakee.org — *The spirit and character of Gertie is immortalized in a statue along Milwaukee’s River Walk. Photo courtesy of* *visitmiluwakee.org*

Seems like a different and more innocent time, doesn't it? Of course, it wasn't. The world war had already produced unthinkable atrocities and the social forces that were to shape Milwaukee into one of the most segregated American cities were at work. But Gertrude reminds us of how birds can divert us and call forth our better natures.

Back to local and current birds..

Wrens are tiny dynamos. I encountered the sedge wren, another great species, during the butterfly census at Goose Pond and Erstad Prairie a couple of weeks ago. At the latter, we flushed several in our search for butterflies. Sedge wrens hold so tight and are so small that as I see the first one or two I always mistake them for some giant, unknown species of butterfly. It's amazing I'm still allowed on the census. They too are wonderful in their own right; the prairie and butterfly search would be incomplete without them.

Both these species are in pretty good shape in terms of their numbers. If you don't have house wrens and have a mix of trees, shrubs, and flowers in addition to lawn, you can probably attract a pair with a wren house. Use this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to learn more about their nesting needs and houses. They are a bit noisy but cool and they eat ticks along with some other less than desirable insects and other bug-like critters.

*Chimney swifts coming in to roost in a chimney. Photo by tjdatsrt FCC*

Another bird mom can use our help. Sandy Schwaub, a wonderful bird volunteer, needs our assistance in identifying chimneys that chimney swifts use for their nests. Read or re-read the July 6 Wisconsin State Journal story on Sandy and chimney swifts. The chimney swift is one more of our insect-eating birds that is declining in population. As is the case with many of these species, we don't know all the reasons for the decline. With chimney swifts, though, one is the loss of nesting sites. These are chimneys. As folks take down or close chimneys, the swifts' options for nesting diminish.

Sandy and other volunteers around the state are asking folks with chimneys to look and mostly listen for the swifts nesting or to examine whether their chimney could be a nesting site. If the answer is yes to either question, then please manage the chimney so the swifts can continue or start to nest there. Learn more about how you can help chimney swifts here.

Finally, a tip of my battered MAS cap to another set of mothers, who are collectively having a fabulous year-- rabbits. They are everywhere: in our front yard, our side yard, our back yard, throughout our neighborhood, downtown, in the suburbs, along country roads. Adult rabbits, teenage rabbits, baby rabbits. I've never seen so many. It must be a good year to be a rabbit, coyote, fox, or owl. Despite the havoc they wreak on some of our plants, they are cute and fun to watch. For the first time, Sally and I saw their mating ritual with the buck hopping and jumping over the doe. That's obviously working just fine.

Please protect yourself, your loved ones, and our community. Be safe and stay healthy.

Written by Topf Wells, Madison Audubon board member and advocacy committee chair