Found a little egg on dirt under my plum tree

[Muse]

I looked up in the tree (which has a lot of almost full sized but very hard green plums that will eventually turn yellow and mature somewhere around the first of August), egg in hand and didn't see a nest. If I'd seen a nest I figured I'd think about placing the egg in it. It's about 1" long, as you can see. I think it's about 1/13th the weight of a chicken egg.

 

[Perknose]

Looks like a Robin's Egg.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would hesitate to re-patriate the egg. I've heard, that if birds smell human scent near their nest, they will abandon it. So if there are other eggs in a nest, you might be putting them all in jeopardy.

Maybe hard-boil it?

 

[homebrew2ny]

I would hesitate to re-patriate the egg. I've heard, that if birds smell human scent near their nest, they will abandon it. So if there are other eggs in a nest, you might be putting them all in jeopardy.

From what I understand, that's an old wife's tale....

I would look again, a nest may be close.

 

[IronWing]

Could be a ground nesting bird. Maybe put it back and see if a parent comes by.

 

[Challenger]

Definitely not a robins egg. Most of the time if you find an egg on the ground it is because it didn't hatch at the same time as the others in the nest and the parents discarded it.

 

[Muse]

I would hesitate to re-patriate the egg. I've heard, that if birds smell human scent near their nest, they will abandon it. So if there are other eggs in a nest, you might be putting them all in jeopardy.

Maybe hard-boil it?

Yes, this idea crossed my mind. Don't know where or when that idea was planted in my mind, but I did think it. Anyway, I looked again at the fairly dense tree and still didn't spot a nest. Getting the egg into it would be apt to be difficult.

I weighed it. It's 0.16 oz, which is about 1/13th the weight of an average large chicken egg.

 

[Muse]

From what I understand, that's an old wife's tale....

I would look again, a nest may be close.

I would think so. The mother's love will triumph in the end. Well, I will look more, I think it had to be the plum tree that it was under. I wonder how it got out of the nest. Maybe the bird was careless... always possible the nest was ravaged by a squirrel. The critters infest the area considerably. In fact a squirrel may have basically destroyed the nest in its frenzy.

 

[Perknose]

Definitely not a robins egg.

I'm curious why you say that so definitely. @Challenger

Here's two pics of Robin's eggs:

Speckled:

Not speckled:

 

[Muse]

Could be a ground nesting bird. Maybe put it back and see if a parent comes by.

I will put it back where I found it. Doesn't seem like it belongs in my kitchen.

 

[Captante]

Time to fry up a teeny-tiny little bitty omelette!

 

[Muse]

Time to fry up a teeny-tiny little bitty omelette!

I've been eating one egg a week lately. I had mine yesterday, over easy... with home fries, and sausage.

 

[Perknose]

I've been eating one egg a week lately. I had mine yesterday, over easy... with home fries, and sausage.

Why only one egg a week?

 

[Muse]

..

 

[Muse]

Why only one egg a week?

No reason. My lipid panel is real good these days. A few years ago my doctor wanted to put me on Lipitor, but I said I wanted to try to get in range dietarily, which I did. I don't take any pharmaceuticals. Maybe a year ago I realized I was eating quite a lot of eggs and cut back. I could eat more, just haven't recently.

 

[Muse]

I put little egg back where I found it in the dirt under plum tree, next to compost pile.

 

[zinfamous]

I put little egg back where I found it in the dirt under plum tree, next to compost pile.

should make a nice snack for whatever rodents or snakes have been frequenting that compost pile!

 

[Muse]

should make a nice snack for whatever rodents or snakes have been frequenting that compost pile!

If indeed it isn't spoiled yet. Like Challenger said, it may have been discarded by its parents because it didn't hatch with its mates.

 

[Perknose]

Like Challenger said, it may have been discarded by its parents because it didn't hatch with its mates.

That's actually highly likely. It's a known occurrence. He might know better than me, which is why I want to know why he's so sure it's not a Robin's egg.

 

[eng2d2]

I would hesitate to re-patriate the egg. I've heard, that if birds smell human scent near their nest, they will abandon it. So if there are other eggs in a nest, you might be putting them all in jeopardy.

Maybe hard-boil it?

Is this true??? Not with eagles

 

[Captante]

Is this true??? Not with eagles

And you know this how?

 

[eng2d2]

And you know this how?

Iws but I am not an expert. It’s a myth says the doc

 

[Red Squirrel]

It seems to be 50/50 on if you should not touch bird eggs. I always thought you should not myself and heard lot of others say too but then also heard that its fine. To be safe I would just use gloves or something if you do find yourself in a situation you need to touch a bird egg or nest.

You also want to keep the egg in the right orientation the whole time... though maybe that's a myth too. Don't really know what to believe these days.

 

[Captante]

Iws but I am not an expert. It’s a myth says the doc

Ahhh ... I see

Was thinking testing it out yourself could prove to be dangerous!

Overconfidence

 

[eng2d2]

Ahhh ... I see

Was thinking testing it out yourself could prove to be dangerous!

Overconfidence

Testing this would land me in jail lol. Not a tree climber too. Lol.

PSA Don’t be afraid to touch eggs