A male wren facing its 'rival' self ....

I looked out of my window on another dreich morning. Rain had been falling intermittently and sometimes heavily. In the green down below the house, we created a patio and built a large cabin beside it, with large windows looking out across the Horns Valley. Sadly the new neighbour, some years ago now, deliberately built up walls off trees shrubs and thick hedges, which have eliminated that delightful view.

The wall of the cabin facing north has no windows and is a rather dark area. A long time ago I stored a long mirror on the ground leaning against the wooden wall of the cabin as it seemed to brighten and given an illusion of a larger garden area. Unfortunately the vinca plant has taken over that patch and grown up on an old trellis leaning against the mirror. I have occasionally seen a blackbird on top of the trellis squawking at its own reflection.

This morning I saw a wren on top of the adjacent wooden fence looking down anxiously at the vinca spread out below. As I looked down I saw some movement amongst the leaves of the vinca and then suddenly another wren emerged and appeared to be attacking the mirror image of iitself. It was amusing and I got my camera to try to record the moment. I realised that the male was trying to attack another male who was threatening its territory with the female standing on the fence about twelve feet away.

Much as I liked watching these antics I realised it was a good situation and would exhaust the male and stress it unnecessarily. I have now removed the mirror to a safer place where hopefully it can’t create such tension. I've posted an 'Extra' of the female wren on the fence.

It of course reminded me of the wonderful classic mirror scene in the Marx Brothers 1933 movie ‘Duck Soup’, where Harpo Marx breaks into Groucho Marx’s house disguised as Groucho …… if you’ve never seen this you MUST watch it!