Phoebes 2: en famille

Four days later, and the chicks are strong enough to raise their heads above the edge of the nest:

Both parents are foraging. About 20 feet from the nest, I have a curly bracket for a hanging basket of lobelia. It is close to the kitchen window, convenient for photos. Here they perch, using the bracket as a vantage point from which to swoop on their prey, but also as sort of kitchen pass, from which to send a steady flow of food deliveries to the nearby nest.

This one is juggling a dragonfly:

This one has got a grip on a butterfly,

And this one is showing off its catch to its mate, who appears to be saying “Wow!”:

The variety of prey is interesting. A Long-dash Skipper butterfly:

A huge Dragonfly:

A white-faced dragonfly:

I think this is a Field Cricket:

And a small grasshopper:

If they keep wriggling, they get bashed on the metal bracket till they succumb.

Anyway, these chicks are not going hungry.