Phoebe the hummingbird is BACK....2011 ~& Others
 

Phoebe has returned and begun a new nest.

Here it is:

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The cam is up and running well now!

She has been testing the rose bush for several days now, and the web owner has moved the cam now so we can see how she builds the nest.
Lots of sharp thorns this time to discourage dangerous predators!

The nest is growing quickly. It is fascinating to see how Phoebe binds the plant fibers with tiny spider webs! She also does a little wiggle wiggle dance to compress the bottom! A little trivial factoid: a hummingbird weighs as much as a penny! About 21 grams.

At this rate it will be done by Sunday!

Seems like more activity later in the day for her. She must be feeding early in the morning.

Thank you so much! I just love to watch her.....it's simply amazing. I lose track of time when I tune in to watch her! :o

Love it!!

Is there also a phoebe named Hummingbird?

Phoebe has laid the first egg!
 

The egg was laid early this morning. Perhaps another in a day or two is expected!

Posters on that site say the weather is warm and good for the egg too.

Second Egg is here!
 

Phoebe is now settled in and incubating the eggs. The second one was laid early this morning!

She seemed so busy and frenetic up to now, and now she is dozing on the nest....much easier to watch!

Good luck dear Phoebe, for a successful hatching and fledging!

Sadly...
 

Something happened at Phoebe's nest last night.

The owner has posted on FB that he has her on video in the dark throwing the eggs out---and they are on the ground now, and trashing the nest. :( :confused:

The nest looked small to me yesterday, and I wonder if the eggs got broken squashed up in the shallow narrow bottom?

Anyway, the Eagles at Norfolk lost a clutch at night when the nest was spooked by an owl or another eagle, and those eggs were broken. 2 seasons ago.

In any event, this is sad, and I was really hoping to see a successful nesting!

This link was posted on the FB for Phoebe....


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It is REALLY interesting.... a "new" nest provided to a nesting family who was in trouble, and then the recovery of a sick hummer in the nest, is quite spectacular!

Making an "artificial nest" is a very interesting concept. I wonder.... I might even try this here some day!

Aw, I haven't been following this and was so happy and then felt bad, LOL! Thanks for this hummer experience ((Mrs D)), I love it! :hug:

My eyes must be bad! I've been looking at the cam and can't even tell where the nest is. It's pretty cool as there are several people chatting right now and the owner is in there as well talking about the hummer.

The nest of Phoebe's is trashed now. Pungh lives in Orange county California. That is all he reveals.

Don't know if she will rebuild yet or not.

The nest IMO was shallow and the eggs may have broken when she sat on them, or were non viable. If this is the same bird over the years, she would be quite old now. Maybe too old.

Ah, that's right. When I visited the cam yesterday they said that she had been flitting about all day and that was about it. Thanks!

Phoebe is back.
 

She is working on the nest again. The cam is up and running.

The nest is not ready, and yesterday she was sitting in it..and it was pretty squashed.

Not sure this is the same "Phoebe" either. So it may be another bird entirely. The owner calls all the nesting birds in his rose bush "Phoebe" BTW.

Nest conflict:
 

The nest in Phoebe's rose bush/tree looks finished now.

The owner says eggs may be soon. However, it appears that there is another female trying to take it over. (impossible to say who is who in this scenario).

Here is a short video link of this conflict:


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Watching this afternoon, and a hummer just flew in and removed some fluff from the nest! (the nest looks almost finished... at least it DID )

An EGG!
 

We have a New Year's egg, today in the nest!

A new year and perhaps 2 new hummingbirds?


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Second Egg:
 

Phoebe has laid the second egg, so now, she will be more settled down, and incubating them both. She will be on camera more to watch. It will be about 2 weeks until they hatch.

She is still bringing material for finishing touches on the nest. I have to say this is a pretty nest with different colors mixed in. Just now she brought some additional spider webs with her. The owner of the cam has a feeder put up, so I suspect she goes there frequently now while brooding.

The nest and Phoebe seem fine so far. She is building up the spider silk over the sharp rose thorns as she broods the eggs.

Each time she leaves the nest and comes back she has more spider silk to add! The owner has zoomed in the camera for more detail too. On full screen you can see her eyelashes!

Eggs due to hatch soon. Within the next week or so.

Hatch watch is now this week.

The cam owner has repositioned the camera...for best view.
You can see Phoebe's eyelashes easily now!

900+ viewers today!

How beautiful!

Because of the time difference, I don't usually get to see these webcams, but I'm up early today, and was thrilled to be able to sit back and watch this pretty little bird.

This is the first hummingbird I've ever seen, BTW.

I just love hummingbirds. They are little miracles really!

The owner puts up videos on YouTube...so you don't have to lose sleep
over it.

first egg has hatched:
 

Here is a link to the video of the early part of the hatching.


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you can see the little chick thru the shell even, moving around!

Using the main link you can see the chick clearly!

Second chick! The second egg has hatched now!

The owner has a very good camera angle...and you can see the chicks clearly and watch Phoebe feed them! Amazing!

Here is an interesting link from the chat today:


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This shows the size of the nest compared to a common US penny.

When we see this nest so up close it is easy to forget how tiny these nests are and hence how tiny the chicks are!
The owner says the chicks are one inch long.

The eggs were the size of a JellyBelly small Jelly bean or just a bit larger than a TicTac candy.

I recall a cam last year which showed the nest to be about the size of a walnut!

The chicks continue to do well. Growing quickly!

The owner of the cam has installed a Crow deterrent. Crows were a big problem last season, and one attacked the nest when the last chicks were trying to fledge! One was lost, and one found on the ground and put back. Since then the owner, claims he saw both babies at his feeder, but of course one cannot be sure they were the same as those from the attacked nest.

This crow barrier is some kind of netting thing that hangs strings down, to foil the crows. I guess they don't like the feeling of that so maybe those pests will leave this nest alone now.

The chicks are getting big now. Soon they will open their eyes.

The owner of the cam has put up a short video of Phoebe feeding that is very clear, and interesting.


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They have now learned to put up their beaks when Mom approaches.
The sound of her wings, now is understandable to them. When they were very tiny, she had to prod them with her beak. I notice that one of the chicks is starting to open his eyes.

Bea and Jay are now looking pretty perky!

Sitting up in the nest with eyes open watching the camera!

Phoebe feeds from behind, so we all get a clear view via the cam!

They have feathers now on their wings, and soon will be exercising them!

Can't fit in the nest anymore!
 

The oldest chick is exercising his wings today...looks like he is ready to fledge any minute.

They are outgrowing the nest, and when Mom came back to feed them this morning she had to sit on top of them! No more room!

The nest must be a bit smaller than usual! It won't be long now.

Fledging is any moment.... the nest cannot hold them anymore!

Over 3000 views on the cam right now!

Fledged early this morning!
 

Drat! I missed it!

We had a power failure this morning and no electricity for about an hour!

They left the nest at 7:11 Calif time and 7:14 am.

The cam shows a link where you can watch it.
The owner posted that they are both in the tall yucca plant next to the rosebush tree. That is where they typically go when first out of the nest. I've seen photos of that on their FB.

The cam is still on, and you can hear all 3 of them flying around still.
Phoebe is building a new nest right above the old one. She may even show up and pull fibers from this nest if she needs them!

New nest:
 

The new nest appears finished! And the cam has been moved into place too. Looks good so far!

Phoebe's new nest is done, and she has 2 eggs in it now.

There is also another female hummer stealing fluff from the nest when she can! I haven't seen that yet, but people are discussing it in the chat.

Estimated time to hatch is 17 days from now.

Both eggs in the new nest hatched this morning.

The camera is nicely placed to show the feeding of the newly hatched chicks.. Totally AMAZING!

Oh my gosh! What a marvelous sight! You're right, excellent camera placement!

It is amazing to watch this hummingbird feeding the tiny delicate hatchlings... just shove that beak down the hatch!

Those eggs were the size of a Jelly Belly!
The nest is the size of a walnut.

With that camera looks can be deceiving!

Wow, a walnut!? I just saw just the 2 babies. It would be so fun to see it in person! Then all of a sudden Phoebe flew in and sat on them. Just awesome!

Another NEST---cam near Phoebe's:
 

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This is unusual because this family MADE a handmade nest for the bird!
They had some photos last season, and it appears that their hummer, named Emma, has returned and is using the human made nest for her chicks! They are almost grown too!

This is really really interesting!

Phoebe's chicks...
 

One fledged last night, but has returned to the nest this morning.

So both are there now, and very cute! Lots to watch when they are at this stage and doing interesting behaviors!

They are so cute! And the nest looks too little for them now! LOL!

I was watching this morning when the one flew back to the nest. He was telling sis all about his adventure...maybe offering a little encouragement for the other to take a test flight. This is too much fun!!!

Yes, the fledging times are the most interesting I think.
There was another cam last spring, whose location I forget now, who's chicks would not fledge for over a week. They left and returned and left and came back. Then it was one that returned. It was a long process, that one!

They seem the cutest during the fledging process, to me.