07/14/2026
You know how I always say it’s never dull around here? This morning was proof.
Johanna had already been here to open up the farmstand and had headed to Augusta to our wholesale food purveyor to pick up items we need for prep (the farmstand is busy). I went out to the back barn to do animal related things and could hear a soft bird chirp coming from somewhere inside the barn. I did the old listen, hear it, take two steps and listen again, hear it, take another step, it stopped, step again and hear it, and now doubt which direction I thought it had come from. I ended up sending Johanna a text asking if she could please come back to help, she said yes because she had only made it as far as the bank in Wiscasset. Phew!
She began the same listen, two steps, listen again and sure enough after a little while we found a phoebe fledgling that had landed in a barrel holding fiberglass poles used for staking electric fencing. We slowly removed poles trying to not move or hurt it. Finally she was able to reach the little bird. She put it on the floor of the barn and it flew right out to Momma Phoebe. We were relieved, happy and then we heard another chirp. Johanna looked at me and said, “&|- # Deb, you’ve got to be kidding.” It was coming from the same corner of the barn. Listen, hear, two steps, you know the rest. Good gravy it was in the same barrel only further down so we continued to pull the posts out gently one at a time. There it was, a sibling, a tad more wedged in with a wing to the side. I said if we need to, we will call Avian Haven, a bird rehab in Freedom, Maine.
Johanna placed it on the mat and after a few seconds instead of flying out of the barn, it flew to the back and continued to get itself into places that it made it hard to reach. Johanna finally caught it and out of the barn it flew.
I’ve been watching Momma Phoebe at her nest for weeks, building it, sitting on her eggs and then feeding her babies. I could tell they were big enough to fledge and sure enough they were.
Byebye birdies, please come back next spring and hatch more babies.
