I would say that spring has come to western Montana, where I live, but we have the potential for snow and frost this weekend. Cross your fingers it doesn’t freeze all the little vegetable plants growing in our garden.

　　One thing the spring has delivered on is birds nests. So many birds nests: Chickadees, robins, house sparrows, starlings…I’ve been finding them not just in the bird houses we placed, but under eaves, in trees, everywhere.

　　No dice.Photo: Kate Bernot

　　I’m also finding the errant eggs that birds have pushed out of nests or which have been blown out by spring winds. Normally they’ve shattered, but the other day I happened across a still-intact (starling? thrush?) egg. So I did what any good food website editor would do: I tried to make an omelette.

　　Unfortunately, my experiment was unsuccessful. The albumen burned off almost immediately, even on low heat. Alas. I guess I’ll stick with my regular chicken eggs. Anyone had an unusual egg omelette that proved to be delicious?