Day one. Photo by Carl Newton

By Carl Newton:

About two months ago, a couple of Say’s Phoebes began building a nest at my back door.

The Say’s Phoebe, a passerine, is in the Tyrant-Flycatcher family. Named for Thomas Say, the American naturalist, it is a common bird in the western United States that prefers dry, desolate areas.

After the nest was built, I raised a mirror above the nest to see when things would be interesting to take pictures.

I monitored the nest by holding up the mirror until the first chick appeared, then photographed one or two times a week.

I have a sequence of stages of chick development on days one, seven, 14, 19 and 20.

This spans hatching through full feather development to the first two days of flight … the last I saw them.

Day 19 was their first day of flight and day 20 was the last day they returned to the nest.

Day seven. Photo by Carl Newton

.Day 14. Photo by Carl Newton

Day 19. Photo by Carl Newton

Day 20. Photo by Carl Newton