Friday 17 May 2013

A giant leap for Phoebe-kind

UPDATE: May 26th, 2013 There are still 5 little eggs in the nest! She laid them May 12 - 13.

Eastern Phoebe, Life History, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of ...

Incubation Period: 15–16 days; Nestling Period: 16–20 days;

You'd think, with four cats about, Phoebe would build a nest a little farther away. The nest, as my faithful readers know, is in the open part of the shed, on the left. Dear wee Daisy, who has inner bigness, spots her from time-to-time, and heads over to the shed, but so far (knock wood) we are good.

Daisy, my shed climber!
Thing is, the garden is a perfect spot for a bug catcher! And this amateur gardener is happy she is about catching bugs. In this photo, she sits on top of the branch that decorates my garden. Can you see her?

Nah, me either. I have is a closer shot! Hooray for the zoom lens. (It was a gift! An early birthday present last year!)

phoebe egg - the first one
As she dives and catches bugs, in the blink of an eye, I am both impressed by her skills, and happy she is working to lower the bug population!
Now there are five!

PHOEBE
She sits atop the branch
cats patrol, I blanche
bugs, they catch her eye
happy, I can't deny
love to watch her antics,
'bout bugs I ain't romantics!


Phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Amazing little birds.

4 comments:

Phil Slade said...

Those Eastern Phoebes are both beautiful and efficient insect eaters as you have observes Jennifer. Hope you cat doesn't get the nestlings and so increase you bug population. By the way we go to Menorca every year so know where to look for certain bird species but still have to find them.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Lovely post and vimeo -- I'd love to see a phoebe for real.

Kay L. Davies said...

Oh, isn't Phoebe precious? And those exquisite little eggs, Jenn! I hope Daisy remains an observer but not a predator, which, unfortunately, is her instinct.
Sigh.
Luv, K

Red said...

Phoebes are a very quiet little bird but they are flycatchers so are lethal when it comes to bugs.