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Original poster

Any birdy people about? Overnight, it seems, a mysterious nest has appeared in the middle of the garden....

27 replies

TooTicky · 03/04/2007 08:47

A dry grass and feather nest, on the ground, with 8 very pale blue eggs about the size of big hens eggs. Any ideas?

OP posts:
Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 09:01

bump

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Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 09:40

Best guess from the BTO is duck, but one website said ducks only lay one egg per day.

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foxinsocks · 03/04/2007 09:44

a goose? is the mum or dad about?

we have a nest in our box at the moment but the mum and dad bird seem to be taking turns going in and out

colditz · 03/04/2007 09:45

COOL!

I don't know and can't help you but that realy is cool!

colditz · 03/04/2007 09:45

Take a photo and watch it to se if mum comes back

foxinsocks · 03/04/2007 09:51

robins' have blue eggs but I think it's quite unusual to have the nest on the ground

perhaps it is a rare bird's nest !

foxinsocks · 03/04/2007 09:51

grr at apostrophe

fishie · 03/04/2007 09:53

i'm suer there was a thread about thjis other other day and it was pheasants.

Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 09:54

No sign of parent bird. Unfortunately one egg got broken as the nest was right next to where dp and ds1 were digging so I don't know if the mother will be too scared to come back. Also, we have a cat. And there is a dog which keeps running about (and shitting) in our garden.
But what bird can lay 8 big eggs in a night? And what size was it before it laid them?

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Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 09:55

Pheasant was my first thought but I gather their eggs are smaller.

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fishie · 03/04/2007 09:56

?differnt coloured eggs? mystery egg layers afflict mumsnetters

colditz · 03/04/2007 09:58

pheasant eggs

Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 10:01

No, definitely not pheasants then. Thanks for links.

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MrsDoolittle · 03/04/2007 10:04

No Bird will lay more than one egg a day

Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 10:06

But they cannot possibly have been there yesterday. And birds don't carry eggs from one place to another, do they? I'm frankly baffled.

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foxinsocks · 03/04/2007 10:07

could it have fallen out of a tree or from the eaves/gutters of your house?

MrsDoolittle · 03/04/2007 10:08

Can you take a picture?

Do you think someone might have out them there?

Big blue hens eggs, as in Old Cotswold Legbar eggs?

Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 10:10

Hang on, I'll go and take a photo...
No, couldn't have fallen from anywhere, not near a building.

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Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 10:23

here

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MrsDoolittle · 03/04/2007 10:40

That nest has been picked up and put down again.
They are too small for hen eggs and I think it's maybe from a black bird.
A coot perhaps??

MrsDoolittle · 03/04/2007 10:46

Canadian Goose ?

NoodleStroodle · 03/04/2007 10:46

It's not a stork nest is it?
Did you find the nest anywhere near a gooseberry bush?
Are you trying to tell us something...

Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 10:49

Could be goose, there are some on the canal which is very close.

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Original poster
TooTicky · 03/04/2007 10:50

Actually, there is a gooseberry bush in the garden...

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foxinsocks · 03/04/2007 10:53

aww yes they do look a bit like blackbird eggs (but you can't see the size really)

looks like the nest might have been abandoned or carried away?? do you have lots of squirrels in your garden?