The fifth and final phoebe installment: Launched

As they got bigger and bigger, it was hard to see how they could fit into the nest.

It got very hot, and the exhausted mother joined them for a rest:

One evening, two of them were sitting right on the edge of the nest.

and the next morning, 14 days after I first photographed them, instead of five there were three,

Ominously, underneath the nest there was a sizable garter snake, attracted  by the smell of their droppings, and living in hope that one would fall and be easy pickings.

At 11.45am I came back from the post office, hands full, no camera, and as soon as I opened the door three flustered panicked fledglings took off over my head, milled around under the eaves, and then were gone.  The parents immediately appeared, calling frantically, but the nest was empty.

And then I saw the snake, no bulge in his middle, so they all got off scot-free. An hour or so later, this fledgling was perched in the branches of a nearby weeping willow sapling, none the worse for wear.

I hear them around, and the conscientious parents should now be feeding the fledglings for a while longer.

I will miss them.