I found these blue eggs in the yard in a ground nest amidst a snarl of grass, black eyed susan’s, daisies and sweet william on July 14, 2017. At first I thought it was a robin’s nest because the eggs were blue. That’s egg id 101. But the nest was on the ground which is kind of odd. There are plenty of trees around.

I didn’t go back to see what was going on in the nest for about a week. I was worried that I’d scared the mama bird away from incubating the eggs while I was clomping around deadheading the sweet william. When I went back on 7/19, the eggs were still there, no bird. Next day the eggs were gone and a layer of gray pink fuzz lined the nest. They hatched! No mama bird but at least I didn’t freak her out a week ago.

I still didn’t know what kind of bird it was so I started stalking the nest and finally got a pic. It’s a hermit thrush! I’ve heard it singing before, usually in the evening, but didn’t know what it was. It’s pretty unusual – you can hear it here.

7/22/2017: the nestlings have some color. All four are alive and seemingly well. I got another pic of the mama bird that gives me more confidence that she’s a hermit thrush.