Made by man or beast?

This is a strange sight. It is hard to imagine what might have made these things that look like baskets with rocks in them. They are not man made and were not made by any animal.

I found these things on the evening of Sunday, May 4. They are a tiny fungi called bird nest fungi. Each little nest is about an 1/8 inch across. Each black thing that resembles a bird egg is actually a spore mass that when ripe awaits a raindrop that will fall into the cup and pop the “egg” out of the nest. The “egg” will release thousands of very tiny spores as it flies and bumps into something.

These bird nest fungi were growing on landscaper’s mulch in a well-groomed flowerbed. Nature is amazing!