I’ve been watching a pair of Phoebes raise their family on a support beam under our deck. The nest is a sturdy one and was also used last year; possibly by the same birds. Made from mud and moss and quite a few hairs from our dogs, it’s a cozy place out of the wind, rain, and sun. The pool pump, which is nearby, adds a soothing rhythmic hum and subtle vibrations.

Last year they raised two broods of babies. One day when I went out to get a photo of the first batch, I walked up near the nest and said hello babies! in a very soft voice, raised my camera to my eye, and WHOOSH, with a huge flutter of wings they all flew out of the nest, bumping their heads on the underside of the deck as they went. I felt awful. But, they must have been ready, right? No harm done. The parents were waiting to watch over them as they flew into the woods. It must not have bothered the parents too much as they went on to raise another brood in quick succession.

A few weeks ago this year’s first brood of babies hatched.

The parents were kept busy catching bugs to feed them. I love watching them swoop out of the trees to catch their quarry in their beaks. Can you see the bug sticking out of his/her beak?

They grew and became very demanding.

I’ve been checking a few times each day to see if they’ve “flown the coop,” as they’ve been fully fledged for over a week now. For the past two days two of them have been huddled on the edge of their nest and they peer down at me with big baby doe eyes. I always talk softly to them so they can get used to the sound of my voice without scaring them. I thought for certain yesterday when I started Johnny up (his summer place is under the deck) that they would startle and finally flee the nest. But, no, they held firm.

An anxious parent kept watch nearby. I could tell they were trying to coax the kids out of the nest, but it wasn’t working. Nothing like a child that doesn’t want to leave the comforts and safety of home.

This morning I thought for certain they would be gone. They really didn’t fit in the nest anymore. I took my camera just in case ... yes, still there. The parents were trying to lure me away from the nest, chattering noisily. Or were they trying to coax them to fly? I said good morning, kids, are you still here? I raised my camera, clicked the shutter and here’s the pic.

One second later, this baby was gone! See how it’s little wings are slightly spread? Well, that baby took off like it had been flying its whole life and landed on the clothesline next to its parent. The parents went wild, flying around the baby and chattering like crazy. They flew into the woods. I turned around to look at the other baby and it looked at me as if to say you ain’t takin’ my picture! and followed its nest-mate. Only one remained and it looked very confused and lost. A few minutes ago I went out to check and the last one is gone too. No more Phoebe beebees. Mr. & Mrs. Phoebe are officially empty-nesters now.

Even without my “help,” they would have left today. They were ready. I feel like an enabler here! Mr. & Mrs. Phoebe, I hope your babies live a good life. You were great parents. Please come back and raise the next crop soon!

Since my videos aren’t working for some people, I thought I’d try a different approach and use a new service called PhotoBucket. Thanks Reya, for pointing me in this direction. The quality is so much better than YouTube!

What follows is a video I took while driving to the cabin. There is some narration but I’m not sure you can hear me well enough. We have to drive up into Laramie, Wyoming and drop back down into Colorado to get to our cabin the way we went in. Chimney Rock is a landmark just on the border between Wyoming and Colorado. At the start of the video it’s in the distance, then we drive past it. I always thought it looked more like a camel, a turtle or a giant snail from the side. We also drive past an old homestead that is rapidly falling down. My Mom has always wanted to live there, so I filmed it for her. We do whizz past pretty fast though. The klunk at the end of the video is us driving over the cattle guard at the border. Enjoy!

Just taking a break from writing today.
      zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My dear fellow bloggers, I give you —Dick, the tree.

Dick is a grand old aspen. He stands proudly deep in the forest at the cabin. Like an old cowboy who’s been riding the range on his horse too long, his legs are bent in a permanent bow. His stance is a jaunty one with one leg slightly more forward and more bent than the other. You can almost hear him greeting you with a howdy pardner!

Dick is so named because of a strategically placed twig, which over the almost 20 years that we have known him, is not quite as obvious as it was back when we first met him. It happens to the best of us. Age has a way of wearing us down over time.

Dick is a strange one. We can’t quite figure out how he came to be. There are two separate trunks coming up from the ground which turn into one. It doesn’t happen at the ground like there was one tree that got split somehow. So, another tree falling on Dick and him growing around the fallen tree doesn’t make sense either, because how could two parts of a tree join back up together so perfectly? But the only other scenario would be two independent trees joining up together, and could that really happen?

Yet in this close-up shot, it look like there is a definite seam, doesn’t it? Go ahead, don’t be shy; take a closer look, Dick won’t mind you staring at his private parts.

Here is Dick, from ...ahem, ehr… behind.

No matter which direction you view Dick from, he’s a strange fellow. We have great affection for Dick and visit him every time we go to the cabin just to be sure he’s still standing. Dick’s stomping grounds are in an area of the forest we call “the blow-down” because there are so many downed trees from the wind. So far, so good. We figure his two-trunked hold on the ground is pretty darn stable. At least we hope so. If Dick ever gets back on his horse and rides off into the sunset, the forest will never be the same.

Date: Sunday, May 27, 2007
Time: 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard time
Outdoor Temperature: 83.7 degrees F
Pool Temperature: 72 degrees F

And just in case you think I can’t swim, you’d better read what happened last year. Click here. It’s worth a laugh ...