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When the sun came out after the ice storm of Jan. 15, each branch and twig of every tree was encased with a glittering coat of ice. The world was transformed. I stood at the window and watched a section of the scraggly lilac bush in the back yard slowly bend under the coating of ice until it broke and fell to the ground. ,
Later, as the air warmed and melting began, shards of ice fell and skitterbd over the ground. Wind helpeaHrees rid their branches of their glistening coat. The yard was covered^ by fragments of ice.
Later in the day and well into the next one, I picked up twigs and branches brought down by the storm and threw them onto the growing brush pile at the base of the maple tree. This brush pile is now three feet high and would easily measure four feet in diameter. It appears to be a “hanging out” place for numerous birds; Song and White-throated Sparrows and Juncos. I saw them diving into the pile and disappearing into its safe interior.
A pair of Carolina Wrens, a species that stays mated through the winter, spend much time in the innermost recesses of my brush pile. The tw o of them are always together. No doubt they find overwintering, protein rich, spiders there. Spiders are a wren’s favorite food.
This brush pile had its origins in my laziness. As I collected and added twigs and the ends of branches after a summer storm, I reasoned that I would eventually move them. I was perceiving the pile as unsightly; not worthy of one who wanted a perfect lawn.
The Juncos and Whitethroated Sparrows changed my outlook and I began to see the brush pile as a refuge for birds; a safe place to spend the night, dive into when safety was required, or retreat from falling ice shards.
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