Count them. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven speckled little Carolina wren eggs. Sitting in a tree…wait, no, sitting in a …hat!

We’re had a wren flying in and out of the garage now for weeks. We tried to keep her from making the nest, but now that we’ve discovered it, we’re keeping the garage open so she can stay with her eggs.

This is an old Sombrero left over from a fiesta-themed summer party. Imagine my surprise to find that it’s become a stylish condo for Mrs. Wren.

Her cousin was nesting in the garage last spring — here she’s in a lovely blue and white porcelain flower pot. Sadly, opening and closing of the garage door before we knew she was there kept her from the nest too long and there were no babies last spring.

I’m hoping we found the hat nest in time this year.