Bird's Nest Surprise!

When we got to our camp site at North Mills River, I had to turn on the gas and activate both the refrigerator (which can run on gas) and the water heater. So I had to take the vinyl cover off of the dual gas tanks to open the valve on one of them. When I removed the cover I found a bird's nest carefully constructed around the valve of the left tank!

At first I was alarmed that we had perhaps moved the nest away from the parents, thus dooming the eggs. But when I looked in the nest I saw that the eggs had been cracked open....I suspect by some sort of small predator. It doesn't appear as if anything had hatched out of them--but I suppose it's possible.

Carole decided to keep the nest so that she can use it for an art project. And I took a closeup photo of the egg so that I could find someone who might be able to identify the species. (If you know--I'd be happy to hear it.)

The nest was under the white vinyl cover on the front of the Casita where the propane tanks are stationed.

Here's the nest with the two broken eggs.

Closeup detail of the egg coloring and patterns.