Great save! :-) That's one VERY lucky baby dove!!! We had a fledgling Starling in the wildlife pond ... also soaked like your little one. Geeze! Those kids just find a way to make trouble for themselves, don't they?!?!? He was dried off and went to tell his friends. LOL! We're taking fledgling Chimney Swifts out of the basement daily now. (The larger chimney connects to the basement schtuff) They're all fine ... and after a photo shoot and a kiss on the head they're released to learn swifty things. :-) By the way ... Your babies, here and Tennessee are FANTASTIC and growing FAST! :-)

Well, since the Common Raven is considered a songbird (the largest in North America), I guess grackles are small in comparison. Be glad you don't have a raven landing on your feeder. I have another possible take on your crows-with-snake event. The crow broods are fledging now in my neighborhood and they're flying all around with non-stop nasal cawing (I flew to this tree! What do I do now? Where is everybody? I'm hungry, feed me!). Maybe your crow is delivering the snake lecture to the kids - "This long skinny floppy thing is dangerous! Watch out! This is how to deal with it!" Just a thought. Claire

Because they wear identical uniforms, I can't swear that it was the chipmunk above checking berries that ended up dusting my piano this morning. The cat with chronic pancreatitis is feeling well, thankfully, but will never be a killer. Ivy was out for one of her 43 morning jaunts, but without permission or a watchful human eye, she ran into the house holding a chipmunk kitten-style in her mouth. She trotted right into the living, collapsed on the soft rug to play with 'Chip', and spat him out at which point he ran directly around to the back of my studio grand, shaking in disbelief between the sound board and the wall, and was now covered in dust of various, somewhat interesting designs. Whizzing the handle on the LED crank flashlight while opening the front door as wide as possible, I spotted him cloaked in a nose-covering web from last Christmas, got a yard stick, and convinced him to seek the light. He ran outside through the open door using at least 64 legs, and what I remember most is 'Chip' lives here because I feed the birds and he eats seeds. I probably should dust more often. Meanwhile, out back, this Jay makes it all look so easy. Jane

My phoebes had skipped a year of nesting in their usual place (above the porch light fixture near my office door). My mirror set-up had scared them away. I should have realized that birds do not "like" mirrors -- but I didn't think about it at the time. I did see a bird pecking all day at the mirror, looking behind it, then pecking angrily at it when seeing the "intruder" again. That bird came back the next day to peck at the mirror again. I felt sorry for him wasting his time. But, I didn't think about the phoebes reaction being the same. So, they never nested there last year. I removed the mirror, but they still did not return to nest there this spring. Instead, they nested on another side of the house -- under our raised deck (same as last year). But, after the 1st brood was fledged -- THEY MOVED BACK TO THEIR OLD NESTING SPOT! So, the phoebes apparently got fed up with the disturbances created by our toy poodle (who is let out onto our raised deck several times a day.) The poodle would be walking directly over their nest, and possibly pissing over their nest. The nest building started May 25, 2021 and completed on the 30th or 31st. The mother was sitting on the nest on May 31, and there were 2 eggs in the nest. So, the first egg was likely delivered on May 30. By June 3, there were 5 eggs. All the eggs hatched on June 17 -- so, exactly 2 weeks after the last egg was laid. Interesting that all eggs hatched on the same day, even though each egg was laid a day apart. When I peeked, all the shells were gone. So, even tho I didn't see it, I assume that the parents removed all the egg shells. I also see the parents flying away with baby-bird poop. The poop looks like worms, and the parents carry it away from the nest. They either drop it or eat it (it is undigested food). Today is June 23, and the parents are often very busy bringing food. The bay birds are still too small to see without using a mirror over the nest. Here is a link to a very interesting article from 1937, detailing the observations of nesting habits of phoebes as studied over a 3-yr period. A few interesting details: Female does all the nest building. Incubation starts at varying times - sometimes after 3rd egg, sometimes after 4th, sometimes after 5th. The male apparently does none of the incubation. After fledging, the young birds remain close to the nest, getting farther way as the days pass. Both parents still feed the young after they fledge -- feeding them for periods of up to 18 days. Reliance on the parents gradually decreases. The parents may eventually show harsh treatment of the young to get them to go out on their own. Interesting. https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v059n03/p0410-p0417.pdf