I couldn't resist posting this. This evening, just after I had finished dinner, I went upstairs to my room to check my email. Suddenly, through the open window, I heard an unfamiliar peeping sound. I glanced out, and there was an extremely cute fledgling Black Phoebe perched on a branch I had nailed to the eaves as a perch for goldfinches visiting my thistle feeders! It dipped its ridiculously stubby tail like its parents. This, along with its obvious gape and cinnamon wing bars, indicated it had just recently left the nest.
A second baby Black Phoebe fluttered in and landed right next to its sibling on the branch. Very neat! They sat there for a couple minutes, giving their peeping calls, before an adult Black Phoebe shepherded them away.
These little guys made my day - I saw nothing else interesting out the window while doing homework and battling a cold simultaneously. Yes, I did spend twelve hours birding for the bird-a-thon on Saturday while I was sick, but it did actually make me feel better...
5 comments:
I had a pair of Eastern Phoebes last year that had just fledged when I saw them. Interestingly, they too had bright cinnamon wingbars.
Ted
Very cute!
Neil, your email update system isn't working so well....
Nice pictures. The birds here have barely begun to build nests. The Robin nesting on my Porch has two eggs though.
Not as cute as my Say's!!
Hey Neil, as always, great pics and great stories. We met at the Dusky-capped Flycatcher in La Mirada (I was the one with the 500mm lens.)
I think it's great that you're an active young birder and hope that you continue to bird. It's also great to hear "Birds Eye View" is still around. My dad and I helped get that magazine started and I wrote an article in the first issue published.
Good birding and hope to meet again the next time I'm in the OC!
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