It could have been the nest of American Crows and they left the debris on the ground. I checked the Birds of North America online site (I can't link to it because it's a subscription site, but I hope it's OK to quote from it) - Great site, well worth joining. If you participated in the GBBC you get a free trial subscription. Apparently crows sometimes pull living twigs off trees to make their nests, and they line them with various materials including bark strips. From Birds of North America online site: "Nest Construction Both sexes build nest; no information on relative share of each sex. Although both sexes bring in nest-lining material, female does more of detailed fine-tuning of nest lining than does male (CC). Builds nest mostly between 07:00 and 11:00 (S. S. Dickey in Gross 1946); early in morning, as early as 8 min after sunrise (Reaume 1987b); likely throughout day (CC), as in Northwestern Crow (Verbeek and Butler 1999). New nest distinguishable from old one by presence of fresh, dead twigs on ground below; these twigs fall accidentally and are never retrieved (Reimann 1942). In Encino, CA, and Stillwater, OK, pulls and breaks off living twigs from trees as well as picking up twigs from ground (CC). Gathers materials from different directions around nest tree, not from nest tree itself (Reaume 1987b). Helpers in Florida (Kilham 1989), Cape Cod, MA (Chamberlain-Auger et al. 1990), and in Oklahoma (CC) participated in bringing material to the nest. With 2 adults and several helpers bringing sticks, the congestion around the nest resulted in birds having to wait for a chance to get to the nest; helpers usually left their sticks for the female to work in (Kilham 1989). Period between completion of nest and egg-laying in Florida 6Â16 d (Kilham 1989), but Emlen (1942) reported building right up to egg-laying in California. Time to complete first nests in California 13 d (range 11Â17, n = 6 nests [Emlen 1942]; 10Â14 d [CC]); 5 and 9 d in 2 nests with helpers in Florida (Kilham 1989), 10Â14 d in Oklahoma (CC). Second nests take less time to build: 9 d (Emlen 1942); 6Â8 d (Graber et al. 1987); 5Â10 d in California and Oklahoma (CC). Structure And Composition Matter Bottom and sides consist mainly of dead branches, 0.6Â3.5 cm diameter (Reimann 1942) and usually Claire

I do have females that look like that and I believe Kenn and Temple do as well. I have one female that has been around for years that has an all black head. All her markings are exactly like a male except very light dull orange and a duller black as well. I thought for years she was just a poorly colored male until I saw her nest building. I always thought it was funny that I didn't see any females around but always found nests. LOL Maybe someone else has some thoughts??? Cathy

I had a series of raccoon (probably) attacks on my jam feeders, resulting in breakage of the jelly jar itself and the hanger. For a while the coon was throwing the other feeder on the ground, and I would just put it back up in the morning. The last time though, the metal hanger disappeared so I couldn't use the bottom. I rigged up a temporary feeder out of a hanging flower pot apparatus and I plopped a few spoonfuls of grape and apricot preserves in the saucer. This feeder was meant to be a stopgap until I rigged up a better one, but I'll leave it up as long as it lasts. The neighbor's dog is back from a long vacation and this feeder hasn't been bothered. This morning I saw the first Baltimore Oriole fledgling at this feeder. I think that's a fledgling in front with the mother in the back watching over the baby. This feeder was meant to be a stopgap until I rigged up a better one, but I'll leave it up as long as it lasts. I plopped a few spoonfuls of grape and apricot preserves in the saucer. Claire

My yard has numerous mature trees, mostly an open woodland habitat, which is the attractive to Orioles. There is a large Pin Oak right above my deck and bird feeders. Baltimore Orioles have nested in this tree for 3 years in a row. This year I've been watching them more closely and reporting sightings to the Oriole Project with Mass Audubon. Right now, both parents are very busy feeding the babies, and I can hear them squeaking when they are getting fed! Their nest is located at the end of a branch at the bottom of the canopy about 30 feet above the ground. It is a different branch each year, but the nests have been close to each other and the shell of the previous year's nest hangs there for awhile. The nest is an amazing hanging pouch of woven fibers. I watched the female weave the nest this year! I don't feed Orioles, and have reduced the amount of food I put in the feeders because I didn't want to attract a lot of birds to the feeding station so as not to disturb the Orioles. They are very territorial about their nesting area. When the female was incubating eggs, Dad was aggressively chasing away all birds, from Crows and Grackles, to even the little Goldfinches! I can't imagine them tolerating other Orioles near the nest. I don't know how far they nest from feeders or other food sources, but I've observed them several time flitting through the branches and leaves of assorted trees (including Crabapples), probably picking at insects. Here's a couple pics from this year.