Phoebe Cam

You are probably sitting there thinking to yourself, what in the world is Phoebe cam? Well, I will tell you. One day earlier this summer, I happened to visit a website called UStream.tv. It is where people set up web cams where you can watch anything from puppies, wildlife to people doing stupid stuff. And I happened upon a barn owl cam with some eggs, and people were talking about a hummingbird cam with a hummingbird named Phoebe. Well since I love hummingbirds, I had to check it out....and I have been hooked ever since.

Right now, the camera is down as the babies have flown the coop so to speak, but will be back up again in October when the next hummingbird baby season begins.

When I came into this cam to watch, there is also a chat room with some of the best people you would ever want to meet. I wouldnt trade any of them for the world. We have all laughed, cried, and had every other emotion there is together with these little birds. We are like a family spread out all over the globe. You should come visit us. Here is the link... http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam

One of our moderators that help keep the room going smoothly has written an absolutely wonderful poem that sums up this past entire season with Phoebe and her babies and she has given me permission to post it here for you all to read.

PHOEBE

I was looking for something
Not knowing quite why
Didn’t know where to look,
Or even where I should try

Then I stumbled across
A sweet little bird
Phoebe is her name
And a bond had occurred

I don’t know what it was
About this little one
But she opened my heart
And many friendships had begun

She’d had a bad season
With problems and trials
She’d brought many together
From thousands of miles.

Such a tiny bird
With a heart so big
And the home she had built
On a tiny little twig

But she worked so hard
While building her nest
To be able to witness
we felt so blessed

Then finally it came
The day we all waited for
Eggs the size of tic tacs
And we’d sleep no more

We watched and we worried
As time seemed to crawl
We waited and chatted
Telling stories and all

And the more we talked
The closer we grew
And the numbers increased
And we needed more blue!

And we watched and we waited
For something to crack
All the time hoping there’d not be
Another lizard attack

And then it happened
One beautiful morn
In the blink of an eye
Little Hope was born

She was in a big hurry
There is no doubt
With one crack of the egg
Little Hope was out

The next evening as we watched
Much to our surprise
Little Hoku came knocking
Right before our eyes

And the viewers were captivated
No one could leave
These two little babies
Were too much to believe

We had waited so long
For a successful clutch
To see them in their nest
Was almost too much

The love in our hearts
Just seemed to grow,
For these three little birds
And the new friends we know

As the babies got bigger
Our hearts grew as well
Then a crow flew in
And little Hoku fell

And hope disappeared
It looked like she flew
But where she could be
Nobody knew

Pungh rushed home from work
To appease our dismay
He found little Hoku
To a big collective "Yay!"

Then Pungh looked for hours
But to no avail
Little Hope was still missing
And still somewhat frail

Now all we could do
Was play the waiting game
And try to be positive
After all "Hope" is her name

So we focused on Hoku
Watching her grow
And holding our breath
While we yelled "stupid crow!"

And Hoku was strong
And before our eyes
Our Hoku was practicing
Wingercize!

And the stronger she got
The excitement grew higher
We all knew that soon
She would be a great flyer

And just as we thought
The day came too soon
And our sweet Hoku fledged
On the 2nd of June

We watched as she learned
From the best of all teachers
For our precious Phoebe
Is one of God’s greatest creatures

And as our journey was ending
And our sightings grew few
We were blessed with a miracle
And our dreams had come true

For up in the yucca
Pungh noticed a third
Perched high on the plant
It was another young bird

And we all were ecstatic
Because each of us knew
That our Hope had made it
And our season was through.

Some great friendships were made
And the good times together
And the love that we shared
We’ll remember forever.

Kathy S Blackley (kjobob)
June 2010