Bird Watching: DAILY PICS VOL. 406, 1 by reddirtretiree

reddirtretiree wrote:
Lots of good birds and pics. Had something unusual happen in the second mockingbird nest yesterday. A smaller fifth egg appeared and three of the eggs had hatched when I returned from Texas. I took a pic of the fifth egg to id and when I checked a couple of hours later, it was gone. I assume the adults removed it. It isn't a cowbird, nor a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. My best guess is a runt mockingbird egg. A local expert told me they sometimes do this on the last egg and it usually doesn't contain a yolk.

A pic of the egg and hatchlings. BTW, the YB Cuckoo I saw in the yard yesterday brings my yard bird total to 138 species, the most recorded on eBird for my state.