We returned recently from a trip out of town to discover that a bird had taken up residence within the overhang of our front porch. Having prior experience with bird nests (and the horror of the invasive bird mites that can accompany them), we were less taken with the cuteness of it all than we might otherwise have been. We knew we had to somehow remove the nest, so we decided to transplant it to a nearby dogwood, oft visited by the mother bird when she was not in the nest. Below is a close-up of the nest with four tiny eggs, about the size of small marbles.

Why all four eggs are so different from each other is up for debate

Why all four eggs are so different from each other is up for debate