Thursday, May 17, 2012

Flycatcher Nest

This is the nest of an Eastern Phoebe , a kind of flycatcher.  They are inconspicuous small greenish-grey birds with a white front that flip their tails up and down when they are perching.  Their song sounds a bit like fee-be.  Many years they build a nest on this window frame and I did see them flying around it earlier this month but not recently.  I have seen and heard them nearby though so I'm wondering if they decided to build the nest in a tree instead.  They are quite calm birds and once a fledgling actually flew down and landed on our daughter.

Although I didn't see any cardinals at our bird feeder this past winter, now I am hearing them and  yesterday I saw first the bright red male and then the duller female fly through our trees.  Hopefully they are nesting in the area.  Also I think that this spring I have seen a mockingbird on three different occasions in three different locations.  The first time I heard it, I was struck by the unfamiliarity of the sound and also by the incredible variety of its singing.  This evening I got a closer look and I do believe it is a mockingbird.  First time I've ever seen one.  I checked on the computer and we are just at the very northern edge of the range of the Northern mockingbird.  Another bird to add to my list.

1 comment:

  1. I have a particular fondness for the inconspicuous, hard working birds.

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