Day 360 of 365
Since last year, when I get time, I have been researching to try to find out as much as I can about Eastern Phoebes. The internet was not much help, just a repeat of the same general information over and over, as goes the internet. But a few weeks ago, I found a publication that shares academic research studies on the species. It arrived yesterday, and I don’t want to do anything but read it but have had a lot of grading this week. It’s killing me that I can’t sit and read this little book all day.
Sadly, there are a lot of unknowns about the species, which is heartbreaking to me, but I have learned quite a bit that I was unable to find on the internet. There is no information about the species in Maine, so I don’t have a lot of dates about nest building and rebuilding. I need to research my own posts and see when our Phoebes were building their nests last year. It will be later if they re-use their old nest, but they will give it an update. I’m watching closely.
The only thing I know for sure about our Phoebes is that we definitely have more Phoebes than last year. They are singing all around our property all day every day, and I have heard at least three. Last year was the first year I identified the call of the Eastern Phoebe, and the only ones hear our home were the couple who raised two broods on our deck. This year, I wonder if some of the babies raised in this area came back. I haven’t found any research on this yet though.
This year, I have not seen anyone working on the nest by our deck, but I try not to worry, as there is still time. Still, every time I hear some Phoebes by the shed on the other side of our property, I worry. I want my neighbors close. We’ll see what happens.
In the meantime, I am enjoying this research. I told Ron I wanted to go back to school, get a graduate degree in science, and then research Eastern Phoebes. He asked, “You wish you were a scientist?” I was like, “oh yeah.” Then, I added, “maybe in the next life.”
photo credit: Patrice Bouchard, Unsplash
Farmer-ish 