The early nesters are home

There are a number of early signs of spring around these parts, a few of which include the return of some of the earliest migrant birds, like Woodcocks, Killdeer, and the dearest to my heart, the Eastern Phoebe. In the past, March 15th, give or take a day in either direction, has been the traditional arrival date of "our" Phoebes. This year, they arrived on March 4th. It took them about a week to settle on where they would nest, which turned out to be the same place they always nest - on the side of our house, just under one of the eaves. PhoebeCam 2011 is rolling, ready to capture the nesting event that is now underway. This year we are able to capture sound for the first time, and this is also the first time that we've been able to catch them building a nest from scratch (they recycled a previous nest the past 2 years). Here are some videos of the beginning stages. I'll keep you posted as things progress.


This Eastern Phoebe thinks she's found the perfect spot for a piece of moss. Or maybe not.


Both the male and female Eastern Phoebe make an appearance here. They exchange pleasantries.

They'll fly any day now

Yes folks, as my headline implies, our baby Eastern Phoebes should leave the nest any day now. They hatched on April 19th, and today marks 16 days since they hatched. Eastern Phoebes typically fledge between 16 and 18 days after hatching. I say this every year, but I cannot get over how quickly they develop. They are very handsome and healthy-looking birds, and I hope that they all fare well once they do make that leap from the nest.

Here are some videos that were captured just today (May 5th).

In this one you can see just how big they are. You can't see them all in this video, but I promise there are 5 little birds crammed into this nest:

In case you didn't believe me, here is a good view of all 5 of them in the nest as they jockey for a fresh position:

Finally, I think this is a good example of how close they are to leaving the nest. Lots of wing flapping going on in this video, getting those little flight muscles warmed up and primed. There's also some wing extending and tail bobbing going on here:

We'll have the camera going bright and early for the next few days in hopes of catching them when they leave (they took off in the morning last year, right before we left for work). I'll keep you posted with the news!