Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

New Arrivals








Earlier this spring I noted a new small bird checking our front porch out. Looking for a nesting spot actually. A couple of days later nest construction was well underway. Having had some previous experience with messy barn swallows in the past, I was quick to inform Mrs. Spic and Span (a.k.a. Mrs T. ) She wasn't happy with the news.

The new arrival was actually one of our most familiar eastern flycatchers, the Eastern Phoebe’s whose raspy “phoebe” call is a frequent sound around yards and farms in spring and summer. These brown-and-white songbirds sit upright and wag their tails from prominent, low perches. They typically place their mud-and-grass nests in protected nooks on bridges, barns, and houses, which adds to the species’ familiarity to humans. Hardy birds, Eastern Phoebes winter farther north than most other flycatchers and are one of the earliest returning migrants in spring. I hinted rather broadly that the bird was likely an "endangered species", which it surely was from Mrs. T's use of the garden hose removal method. Here's the story.....


A few weeks later I checked the nest. There were five tiny eggs smaller than a dime.

Later I saw a tiny brown fuzz ball. I wasn't sure at first what I was looking at till I noticd the little beak sticking up...


Then one evening I heard some peeping and watched the parents hurrying back and forth bringing supper. I couldn't believe how crowded the nest had become. Those five little birds were literally piled on top of each other. Then one day they were all gone. Bon voyage little Phoebes. Its been nice making your acquantence. I hope you do well out in that big wide world out there. Come back and visit... even next spring.

23 comments:

  1. Awwwww, how neat is that, being able to enjoy them AND photograph them to enjoy after they are gone.

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  2. we have phoebes nesting in our barn every year. now that my barn cat has died, the fledglings have a much better chance at making it to the outside world. i love their incessant call!

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  3. What a sweet little bird. I loved the story. I had a family of chickadees nesting in a birdhouse for the third year in a row. I happened to be taking pictures of the sweet babies leaning out of the opening yesterday, when suddenly the first one fledged. I was surprised to find I had caught a blurry photo of the first seconds of flight where you can see the baby started out hitching a ride on the parent's back. But he flew off on his own and landed safely in a pine tree. You can see some of the pics here. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150953110398769.443277.579248768&type=1&l=99b4ff8d67

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  4. The world always needs more phoebes. I just love them and would like nothing more than to observe them nesting. Lucky Troutbirder.

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  5. You helped raise those babies! Good job! I bet you hand to clean off the porch lots:)

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  6. What a nice landlord you are. Do you suppose that mom Phoebe will name at least one of them TB?
    I had swallows replace my phoebes this year and find they are much neater than the phoebes were last year. Maybe it is an individual bird thing.

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  7. Good pictures! I especially enjoyed the little guys peeking up over the edge. Good luck to them! :-)

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  8. Excited for you on the Phoebes. Apparently I need to go back to school on my bird identification. :)

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  9. Wow, already this year! Maybe they'll have time to come back and raise a second brood. So cool that you could get those excellent photos!

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  10. i enjoy hearing them, nice to watch the nest

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  11. Oh how neat to see them from start to finish!

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  12. I'm glad you were able to document their arrival with pictures. Too bad you couldn't see the take-off!

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  13. I like that you welcome this family
    to your space. Some would destroy the nest but you allowed Nature to take her own way!Thank you! Nice to meet a like minded Nature lover!

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  14. Awwww....how sweet! You are a wonderful landlord. :) Love the photos.

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  15. I'm glad you shared your porch with this little family and were able to track their progress from egg onward. Hopefully they will come back since you were so hospitable to them.

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  16. Oh how fun! You have helped raise a whole new generation of birds to watch - haha. Aren't they cute all bundled together. I hope they haven't flown too far and that you will be able to capture them with your lens!

    Wonderful!
    xo Catherine

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  17. How adorable! Those are lucky chicks to have you as their host. Keep us posted.

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  18. We've had barn swallow nests 3 years in a row on the back porch. I think the same parents must be coming back year after year. They are messy, but I like having them there.

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  19. ...loved this post! Seeing those little babies melts my heart! Glad they all hatched and fledged successfully!

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  20. Glad to see they survived being on "The endangered list"!

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  21. LOL - Too funny -- about Mrs. T. :) What fun to watch all of this so up close and personally :) Thnx for sharing!! Bon Voyage baby birdies! :)

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  22. Growing up, we always had a phoebe nest in the small roof over our front door. My mom was so fond of those phoebes.
    How wonderful to get to watch their life begin.
    I'm currently watching several robin's nests with young in them still.
    We had severe wind storms in northern MN last week, I feared for those little birds. Many nests blew down. (many trees blew down.) Glad to see my young robins are still doing well.

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