Today my phoebe chicks FINALLY fledged--they had hatched from eggs on May
6! Is anyone aware of phoebes being in the nest for such a long time?
Additionally, the female phoebe started building her second nest ON THE
SAME SHELF the chicks were still on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Has anyone else
ever seen this? Instead of feeding the chicks that were overdue to leave,
she just started making another nest yesterday while they watched her.
Her mate continued to feed the young at the nest until they finally left this
morning, although some of them returned to the nest a few times before
finally exiting my porch!!!!! These chicks really did not want to leave home!
This has been an extremely strange year for several species of birds in my
yard. In fact, my July Crozet Gazette article will document some of the
unusual events, in case you are interested. Meanwhile, if you have seen
this kind of phoebe behavior, I would deeply appreciate hearing about it.
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Marlene
