I tried to get a picture of her but she wouldn’t cooperate, and anyway you’ve probably seen a brown bird. Picture a small brown bird with a slight crest and you’re there.
But she got busy right away…
So undoubtedly she’s already well on the way to producing this year’s crop of little Phoebes.
This is her third year in a row nesting in exactly the same spot. I know I said I was going to deepen her shelf for her and it would be extremely simple to do, but frankly she seems to find that spot so satisfactory I’m reluctant to screw with it in any way – I mean, who knows why a bird does anything? She might just really prefer narrow windy ledges and putting up a ‘better’ one might scare her away.
You have Phoebe and I have Jose. Two weeks ago I was sitting on the steps of my home in the woods and Jose the Hummingbird (the name given to the first arrival) flew up to my face and said “I’m back! Where is the food?” Those hummers always remember and are ready to announce their return. Birds work hard. Spring is cool when more of the various varmits start showing up. Entertainment is where you find it.
Ours decided to start off nesting under the alcove that supports the evap cooler. I could hear light chirping from the nest yesterday when I was getting the evap in running order after the winter shutdown. So she’s got chicks already hatched.
The other notable observation is that this year – the first in several – a male phoebe was hanging ’round and bringing bugs into the nest. For a number of years this female has not kept/allowed a male to contribute to upkeep. Maybe she found a keeper?
Over in the courtyard (the alternate nesting location for the phoebe) the oriole and mockingbird have been casing the spot for nesting. The oriole are regulars – the mockingbird newcomers to the spot. Not so sure about the mockingbird – I appreciate them more from about a 1/2 mile away.
I took the plastic sheets down from the doorway that separates the overwintering room from the courtyard yesterday – and the male oriole was in there within an hour. He found his avocado tree and was fussing with his old nests and surely planning the next one. he didn’t even give me time to move it out to the courtyard.
It’s busting out all over!
How ’bout the hummers? They’ve been busy down here for a couple months.