The male bluebird found a mate, built a nest and then...nothing. This is the second abandoned nest he and a partner have built in one of the bird houses. I'm beginning to think there's something wrong with him. The first female was clearly damaged in some way. Either pesticide poisoning or a parasite. That "banging into the window for hours" behavior was too weird. Now he's got another female and still no eggs. Perhaps he suffers from the same affliction as his first mate. It's disappointing. No baby bluebirds from our boxes this year.
This other "nest" is actually a fungus. I found it growing in the garden while I was harvesting Swiss chard. It's a bird's nest fungus. The "eggs" are actually little spores that are dispersed when hit by rain, or the garden sprinkler. The fungus belongs to a group of saprophytic fungi that grow on decaying wood or manure. Nature is so cool.
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