Eastern Phoebe Homecoming!

The Eastern Phoebes have returned home!  This morning, while enjoying a cup of coffee on the porch, my sweet little “tail-wagers” suddenly appeared, excitedly flying in to make sure their longtime mud and stick nests were still safe and sound under the porch eaves.  

 I feel a special bond with these birds as their forebears moved in when my father built the porch in 1973 and they have lived here with us ever since.   

From the vantage point of our easy chairs--mere inches from their nests--we have watched these hard-working avians raise their young year after year.  These summer birds rarely leave the forest area adjacent to the house.  When they are not busy nesting they act as house sentinels, sitting on the step railings patrolling for harmful insects and keeping us humans safe. I cannot imagine what the warm weather months would be like here without my friends the Phoebes.