What luck!
This morning, I found a golden egg, high up in a tree.
Nestled into the rough bark of our backyard mesquite, a magical bird had laid a golden egg. This was excellent: what a windfall! — my fortune was secured, if only I could reach it.
But it was too far over my head, so I had to satisfy myself with longing for its golden curves through binoculars.
And guess what, it wasn’t an egg at all, but some type of -quat or other: kum-, or perhaps lo-. Yes, that was what it was: a small orange fruit, probably a loquat since a neighbor has a tree, wedged into somewhere safe by a bird, or maybe a squirrel, to be retrieved later.
Who would do such a thing, hiding a golden treasure in plain sight? The jammer would have to have sufficient strength, beak/jaw gape, toe-grasp, cleverness and agility to handle hauling a small fruit into a tree, and stashing it on a vertical trunk. There are several candidates,
but I strongly suspect the Curve-billed thrashers, who have just fledged their ravenous brood and are working incessantly, combing every crevice in the yard to feed their greedy-gaped offspring. These industrious foragers will eat anything, seed, suet, bug, or fruit. And they have an eye for treasure, just as golden as loquats.
(All images A.Shock).
Nice sketch of the thrasher. I love the beady yellow eye.
it’s a birdy pantry!