At least three phoebe chicks fledged this morning. Their parents had built a nest under our porch roof. We observed them feed the chicks and watch the nest carefully when they weren’t feeding. Yesterday I took a photo of the nest with a long lens.
The chick were in the nest early this morning. Shortly before 11 AM, Jann told me she thought the chicks had fledged. Sure enough, they were gone, but the parents were acting like they were still present and I was going to steal them. I quickly backed off, got a camera, and photographed the parents as they perched, flew, and returned to an old piece of a tree I have stuck in our garden. This is the first time I saw them at this spot, even though it is only 15 feet from the nest.
I went inside to download my photos and when I returned the phoebes were gone. After seeing them constantly for several weeks, they completely disappeared. Our theory is they took their young into the woods out of reach of that big glass eye on a tripod.
