Our pheobe, who had sat on the nest for a solid week, disappeared on 
Friday, and
on Saturday we saw that half the nest had been torn and was lying on 
the driveway.
I am guessing that a larger bird (jay? crow?) had eaten all the eggs 
and then came
back for another pass and broke the nest in two.

It's amazing to see how beautifully woven it was inside the mud and moss case,
and how soft an interior it had.

The big wind storm we had a few days ago knocked a hummingbird nest out
of the trees. I hope it's a nest from last year. Again, 
mind-bogglingly beautiful
construction, incredibly soft, covered with lichens.

Cardinals are nesting in an azalea, which means I won't be able to 
prune that one
as planned. The female has been sitting for several days now.

Our chickadees fledged, I assume, judging by the activity in the 
trees near the bird house,
and by how agitated the adults are when I walk by.

Today at Worton Creek Marina, I saw a flycatcher land on one of the 
straps on the travel lift.
I don't think it was a great-crested, but it had a lot of yellow on 
the breast and abdomen.

We've noticed a weird absence of ducklings in Shelter Cove marina on 
Hances Point,
although a mallard tried to build a nest on the bow of our boat with 
about a half-dozen wood chips.
She laid 5 eggs, which rolled off the wood chips and ended up against 
the toe rails.
They were quite dead so we evicted them and the mallard left a day later.

--Pat

Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD | 
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
--Douglas Adams