New neighbors!

A few days ago I noticed there was a nest built on the front porch of the dorm! We've been seeing a little gray bird fly in and out - I am pretty sure it is an Eastern Phoebe, which according to the bird book is a sparrow look-alike (check!) that often builds in porches and under eaves (double check!)

I snapped a quick picture of mama bird when I was leaving this morning - she flew off when she saw the flash, but hung around in the tree nearby so that I was able to get a good look to identify later.

After work I brought a chair out onto the porch so I could get a close-up of the nest.

There were babies! Still very tiny, still with their eyes closed, but they do have their pinfeathers - Leeanne said that when she looked the other day, they were still just pink "gummies".

 

The strange thing is, there's a second nest just a few feet away! Leeanne said she thought she had seen the mother going in there, and that there were eggs...

 

 

I am amazed by the careful application of lichens and mosses to the mud on the outside of the nest - to disguise it, I would assume.

 

And sure enough, there are eggs! But is it the same mother with newly hatched chicks in one nest and unhatched eggs in the other, or is it two families whose mothers are never there at the same time? I would not expect a mother to be able to tend to two nests! I will try to keep an eye on the comings and goings in the porch ceiling area to see if I can figure this out.

Doesn't it look cozy, woven together so neatly all warm and dry under the eaves?