The Mad Birders are very grateful to Professor Bernd Heinrich who came to Warren, VT to give a talk titled “Bernd on Birds” last Saturday afternoon.  Apologies to all for the delay in starting the program.  The talk focused on the nesting habits of many common North American songbirds and Professor Heinrich provided some fascinating insights into the biological mechanisms and reasons for egg coloration and egg marking.  For more information on this topic, birders can read Bernd’s 2010 book on the subject:  The Nesting Season: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monogamy.  Pictured above is a nest of Common Mallard eggs taken by Mad Birder Barb Ellis in East Warren on 6/15/11.  The duck had done such a good job of camouflaging the nest last week that Barb thought the nest had failed.  However as of yesterday ten baby Mallards were still on their way into this world.