After the egg/nest debacle from 10 days ago, I’ve been anxiously watching the comings and goings of Mama Carolina Wren.

You may remember that I thought the eggs were no longer viable after being in the nest for a month, and I put them in the trash. Til I realized that there were more eggs than when I’d first looked – meaning she’d laid another clutch that might be viable. I wrote about that ordeal in a previous post, put the nest and eggs back very carefully and crossed my fingers.

Last night when I was walking into the house through the garage, I thought I heard the tiniest squeak coming from the nest. I stopped and listened – nothing. But later I saw the hat (and nest) swaying just a bit and wondered again if something was going on in there.

Mama Wren was sitting high up on the eggs, and fairly visible to me, whereas before she was far down in the nest on the eggs where I couldn’t see her.

So I took a peek when she was out of the nest.

What a wonderful sight – a tiny little creature – just born – wiggling around down among the other eggs. If you look very closely (maybe click on the photo to enlarge it) you can make out the face on the new baby.

Honestly, after all this watching and waiting, I felt like I was the Mama!

This morning I took a picture when Mom and Dad were gone — they are both now working on feeding duty.

Hatching can take 24-48 hours and there are 6 more eggs in the nest. Some may be from the first clutch, and not viable, but our new little friend might be getting some siblings over the next few days.

And you can bet I’ll be watching (from a respectable distance)!