I found this nest in the midst of the back pasture over the weekend.

My first thought was to wonder what a robin was doing building a nest on the ground — I’ve only seen them nest a few feet up, in a tree or a building.  The eggs looked right for robin, though perhaps a touch small, but then I realized that there was no mud lining the nest, a signature building technique of robins.

After some consultation with more-knowledgable friends, we decided that it was probably the nest of a hermit thrush, a close relative of the American robin.  Hermit thrushes nest on the ground, the nest was constructed as I’d expect for hermit thrush, and the eggs, a tiny bit smaller than robin’s eggs, were a good match.  The catch was that I’d only known hermit thrushes to nest in the woods, in a well-hidden location appropriate to their name, but the Cornell bird bible suggests that they are sometimes more catholic in their choice of location.

I think the maker of this nest chose the site before my sheep came through and shortened the grass.  I’ve been watching the nest area in hopes of getting a positive ID, but haven’t seen anyone incubating the eggs; I fear that the grazing hordes were too much and mom abandoned it.  Nevertheless, the woods beyond the nest spot are full of singing hermit thrushes (one of my very favorite bird songs!), so I feel reasonably confident in my ad hoc identification.