cardinal eggs

green heron eggs

Redstart eggs

Kildeer eggs

This pair of kildeer made their nest in my laneway, so I was able to watch them on a daily basis until the eggs were hatched. Unfortunately I could not get a photo of the babies as the parents moved them away very quickly!

Mallard Nest by the Garage

Discovered this nest in the garden next to my neighbor’s garage. We were worried that her doberman might disturb the eggs, but she just sniffed them once, and seemed to want to protect them! When the ducklings fledged, they took them across the road successfully to the river.

Waiting on momma robin to return

While walking around at Tagawa Gardens nursery I noticed this nest up on the frame of the shades along the sidewalk too hight to look into- I saw momma robin fly away and took an overhead shot to find these perfect little eggs

Killdeer Eggs

Nest sweet nest

This American Robin nest was on the deck railing of my brother-in-law’s parents’ house, so it was easy to take a photo of. The eggs were so blue and perfect, it was like it wasn’t even real.

Welcome Home

This photo was taken with my iPhone because my larger camera would have caused too much disturbance in the tiny access point I had to work with. There are 2 Bayberry bushes on either side of our front door. This is the first time in several years they returned to nest in this particular bush. (I had trimmed the bushes way back a few years ago. Bad idea in hind sight) Our front yard seems to be a micro climate for Cardinal breeding. We have a Red Japaneses Maple hybrid tree in the front center of our home that we have nick-named “The Love Shack” because every season, the Cardinals return, flock to that tree and perform their mating dances there. Then they nest in the smaller bushes around our home to lay & hatch their eggs. I named this picture ‘Welcome Home’ as nod to their annual return, a nod for returning to that particular bush (and as a subtle apology for having wrecked their home before) as well as nod to it being right at our front door. Momma and her eggs, and eventually the hatch-lings, welcomed us home every time we returned. (which I interpreted as her acceptance of my apology 😉 I hope you enjoy her beautiful ‘home’ as much as we did. PS. I could decide the category, so I hope it was ok to enter it in both beautiful eggs and best nest….

Let’s count again…

Avocets lay their eggs directly on the ground and they blend perfectly with their environment.

Robin Eggs

Speckled Eggs

An evergreen shrub in my yard was home to this nest.

First Flight

This egg fell out from the nest onto a bench on our deck. It was broken but the majority of it remained intact. And so it presented a perfect opportunity to be made whole in my son’s little pottery nest.

Full House

This nest was located under my bathroom window on the side of my house.

The Mallard family

Mr & Mrs Mallard enjoy our spring ponds at Sunshine Loop. We discovered there nest in the field on 7/10/2014. We had to mark the area off because they were coming to hay the field any day. We now have an area in the Hayed field where the Mrs Mallard continua to sit on her nest.

Finch eggs

finch eggs in nest in a fern

A feather bed!

This nest was created by birds this year who built onto the leftover nest of other birds from last year. The nest is under the roof of our swim pier. The original nest was mostly straw/grass. This “addition” was mostly mud with a feather lining.

I Found this nest in a wild rose bush

Hanging Geranium Dove

Family of Four

Robin nest on our downspout

Red-headed woodpecker

Newly Hatched Baby Tree Swallows

On 5-18-14 I observed the nest preparation. The wait was over on 6-15-14 when the babies hatched.

House Wren Eggs

House wren eggs in a nest box in my back yard, taken July, 6, 2014. The eggs have hatched and the babies are growing

6 House Finch eggs.

6 House Finch Eggs and a pretty nest in a wreath behind a lantern! Whats more like home than this?

Killdeer nest

Gull Eggs

Least Tern Nest and Eggs

Least Tern nest and eggs (2)

American OysterCatcher NEst and Eggs

3 American Oyster Catcher Eggs

Rolling of the eggs.

Just a few days prior to hatching, this attentive Canada Goose mom-to-be rolls her eggs.

Waiting

I observed the momma and daddy building the nest and waited to see what would take place next. I waited patiently (or maybe un-patiently) as the incubation took place and the chicks neared hatching.

8 wren eggs!

This carolina wren nest is located in an aircraft maintenance hangar at Tampa airport. The nest is located in a cardboard part box. I was surprised to see 8 eggs in 1 nest. I’m not sure if that’s common.

Turkey Eggs

turkey eggs on the ground in our woods

Junco Eggs

junco eggs in the grass at our home

Goose Eggs

Canada Goose eggs nest on a small island on our pond

ruffed grouse eggs

ruffed grouse eggs in our back woods in smithville

Ground nest

Tiny nest found on the ground, unknown bird.

Gray Catbird Eggs

Robin’s Eggs

Robin’s eggs laid in a bush near my front porch.

Mockingbird eggs

Mockingbird eggs found in roses surrounding arbor.

Eggcellent!

4 Cardinal eggs found in the fork of a Japanese Maple!

Some Eggs Don’t Take

different eggs in same nest

found different eggs in this nest. I am a new birder and found this strange.thank you

Spotted Sandpiper eggs

Savannah Sparrow nest with cowbird eggs

A Savannah Sparrow nest containing multiple Brown-headed Cowbird eggs.

wall basket makeover

Protective mama killdeer with eggs

A pair of killdeer made their nest right by the walking path in the Peace Garden. Because of their clever feigning trick of a broken wing, we weren’t sure where the actual nest was until I was almost on top of it and the mama switched from faking injury to straight up dive bombing my head. Sorry, birdies! We were just trying to figure out where it was so we could avoid it and let you relax!

3 eggs

Bluebird eggs

6 lovely Eastern Bluebird eggs

First to Hatch

This nest box is one of 7 on my Blue Bird trail on our farm. After a chickadee was done with this nest box, a Blue Bird family moved in.

Delightful Decor

The color of the 5 azure blue eggs complimented the colors in the weath as well as the color of the background house siding.

Bluebird Eggs

Our first nest after setting up a nestbox after moving.

The First Nest of The Season

This nest was found in my rhododendron and the blues of the eggs were vibrant compared to the pink flowers and green leaves!!! Georgous!!!

Pretty eggs

House finch nest in my hanging basket.

Nestled Eggs on Louisiana Swampland

Brown Thrasher [Toxostoma rufum] nest & eggs inside my Grapevine.

Brown Thrasher [Toxostoma rufum] nest & eggs inside my Grapevine.

Killdeer eggs

Green Heron Eggs

Ruffed Grouse nest

Redstart nest

First Bluebird eggs ever…for us!

We put up our first nest boxes on Memorial Day. The next visit was on Father’s Day and these were in one of the boxes!!

Trinta-réis-das-rocas (Onychoprion fuscatus)

The One & Only

The Northern Mockingbird couple spent well over a month perfecting this nest in my topiary next to my front porch steps. This spot is prime real estate for the Mockers who fight for this location every season. Every time we were outside anywhere in the vicinity, he or she would come with a stick in mouth, and fine tune the nest right in front of us. She finally laid an egg in it on Mother’s Day, but, decided to lay the remaining in my neighbors yard. The egg was abandoned.

Turning the Eggs.

While observing the heron rookery, saw this heron turning the eggs. great rookery that you can see down into from the road.

Carolina wrens

Nest in clothespin container, for the second consecutive year.

Spring time at Sapsucker Woods

I found this beautiful nest while hiking in May 2014 at Sapsucker woods. It looks like a cowbird decided to lay her egg in the bluebird egg nest. (I’m pretty sure these are bluebird eggs.)

Pretty Gray Jay Eggs

Gambel’s Quail eggs

Gambel’s Quail usually lay about 12 eggs, this mom laid 6. It may have been a second brood. They were in a flower pot on our patio. Each time I could see the eggs they were positioned differently. I liked this arrangement. I was lucky to see the eggs hatch. Within minutes all hatched and in less than an hour the chicks jumped out of the pot onto the patio floor and scuttled down the steps and into the desert following mom and dad.

Wild Turkey Nest

While collecting flowers we stumbled upon mama turkey and her nest. We photographed it quickly and left.

Killdeer eggs

Mockingbird Eggs

Northern Mockingbirds nested in my rose bush. They added an egg each day from May 26 to May 29, 2014.

Northern Cardinal eggs

Northern Cardinal eggs in nest

Woven in the Grass

Swainson’s Thrush nest in Oregon

The nest was located in a 40-acre stand of large second-growth Douglas Fir trees. There were a few Oregon White Oak and Bigleaf Maple trees along the edges of the stand, and scattered Hazel bushes throughout. The ground cover was mostly mosses, Sword Fern, and some Poison Oak. I found this nest exactly 62 years to the day after my father found a Swainson’s Thrush nest in an oak grove about three miles from this location.

Piping Plover Nest

A full clutch of Piping Plover eggs on the shore of the Missouri River.

Mourning Dove nest and eggs

This was the first nest I observed for 2014 after a brutal NE Ohio winter. This picture was taken on 03/28/14, one of the earliest dove nests I have ever encountered.

Singing The Half-Dozen Blues

Adrift

This marsh hen nest was found along the edge of a salt water creek during an extreme high tide.

“don’t even think about it!”

Hide & Seek

Eggs in the Sagebrush-Steppe

While doing field work with pygmy rabbits in southern Idaho, we ran across this nest, nestled in the sagebrush. It was beautiful and I spent the rest of the day looking for more nests!

A Robin Nursery

The robins built this nest in our cherry tree between the drive way and the street. We were thrilled to see the nest and my son used a stepladder to catch this quick glimpse while the mother robin flew off to catch a worm.

warbler nest

Killdeer eggs

Grackle egg

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology