Mary spotted three eggs on the ground under one of the garden bird boxes, surrounded by a spray of feathers. We first thought that a hawk had dismantled another songbird, but the feathers came from many different birds.
All three eggs were stone cold and this one had a puncture wound:
We think one of the myriad blackbirds inhabiting the forsythia along the property line cleaned out the nest. It seems sparrows completely fill their nesting cavity, putting their eggs hazardously close to the hole.
This side view shows the entire column of fill:
We’d cleaned out those boxes not long ago, so we’ll let the sparrows handle this one on their own. A pair of Carolina wrens have been hauling grass into the other garden box and we hope the sparrows won’t bother them.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 