Perhaps no other bird, other than the Red-winged Blackbird, embodies the spirit of the marsh better than the Long-billed Marsh Wren.  While Red-wings frequently leave the marsh and enter into our everyday world, Marsh Wrens hardly ever leave the reedy realms.  To see and hear them you have to seek them in their places.

  True to their name, these wrens inhabit the thick vertical vegetation found in cat-tail and bulrush marshes. As mouse-sized members of the wetland fauna they spend most of their time hopping about in the shadowy depths of the lower stems seeking insects and cover. During the early summer breeding season they create wonderful ball shaped nests located about mid-way up on the cat-tail stems. These structures have bottom entrances and are, as you might suspect, hard to find amongst the tangle of green and brown.  I’ve personally only seen a few and in those cases I had to go knee deep into the marsh.

  Marsh Wrens are visually secretive. More often than not, their presence is betrayed solely by the movement of the upper plant stems as they perch on them down below. When you do spot one, it is usually only for an instant before they melt away (see here). The most notable feature is their diminutive size, up-right tail, and white eye brow stripe. It probably goes without saying that the bill is relatively long (they don’t call ‘em that for nothing).

  These wrens are not audibly secretive, however.  They are constantly calling and commenting on the world around them. Often, a small swatch of marshland will ring out with the dry twittering call of multiple wrens.  I was able to record one of these song bursts at Crosswinds Marsh (Long-billed Marsh Wren) – you’ll need to listen to this sequence several times to get a sense of a talkative wren in action.  My wren apparently sensed my desire to record it and decided to grant me one little burst (but it was a nice little burst).

  After recording this songster and getting one quick photo, I figured that would be all I’d get. This little guy proved to be more generous than I could imagine, however. In a few minutes it emerged out onto the board walk and immediately dropped into a spread eagle pose (see here). The bird was taking advantage of the hot morning sun and performing a little sun bathing ritual.  My presence made him a bit nervous and he frequently hopped back into the shadows. Fortunately, the lure of the summer sun finally overwhelmed the fear factor and he lost all sense of restraint. He eventually let it all hang out (see here).

  In full solar glory, the bird pointed his hind end toward the sun. Every wing and tail feather was fanned out, the body feathers fluffed, and the head turned up and slightly sideways. All that was missing was a reflective panel held under the chin.

  Take a good close look at the detail picture above and you’ll notice that the body feathers are lifted to the point where they expose the naked skin. It must feel good to air out these nether regions. I can’t help but to point out that the patch of bare skin visible in this shot is directly above the tail.  This is wren butt, ladies and gentlemen- a full moon in the full sun.