Wednesday 7 October 2009

Feathers


I've been collecting feathers for a while, some of them are just stunning, and inspired by Weaver of Grass, who posted some feathers today, here are mine. I know that the almost black (but actually wonderfully irridescent) feather on the right is from a magpie and that the two small feathers with the gorgeous blue patterns are from the wing coverts of jays (both these were found on the same day in Dumfriesshire, but in two different woodlands!). I don't have definite ids for the rest so if anyone can help, please let me know! They've all been found in Scotland.

19 comments:

poefusion said...

sunday my husband found what we think to be a turkey vulture feather in our yard. i hope to take pictures sometime because i have another feather too. it's a bluejays feather. you have quite the collection. you should keep saving them. hope all is well. have a great day.

Anonymous said...

I think the second one is an owl's because it is wider and more rounded. (Hello - I found you on Weaver's blog).

Christy Woolum said...

What a wonderful thing to collect. Many of my students at school collect eagle feathers, there are many legends related to the eagle with Native American children.

Annie Bear said...

I don't anything about feathers, but what a neat idea to collect them! These are very nice.

Thanks for your nice words on Lucy's blog. :)

Jasmine said...

I love feathers. I wonder what you will make?

Anonymous said...

I don't know if you've ever seen the Australian Currawong. They're a little larger than the magpies and are all black except for the white tips on their tails. I found one of their feathers years ago - a foot long. Pure black with a white tip. It is one of my treasures!

Unknown said...

Nice collection, I only have one piece, it's from a peacock though I have no idea where it came from and I love the colours :P

Deb G said...

How could you not love feathers?

Janice Thomson said...

These are delightful Juliet. Love that black and white one. The blue is also stunning. How wonderful we get these little keepsakes from our feathered friends.

Regina said...

I would collect feathers, too, on my walks int he early mornings... a wonderful display of them, Juliet!
:)

Susan Richardson said...

Such a lovely collection! I often use feathers as prompts in eco-poetry workshops - they always seem to trigger really interesting pieces of writing.

Tammie Lee said...

I love finding feathers in the wild. Wondering when they fell and who they belonged to. Seems you have an idea of who they belonged to. Feathers and dreams of what can be seem to be related somehow.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Those jay feathers are absolutely exquisite Juliet. Do you think the spotted one might belong to a Greater Spotted woody?

Gina said...

such gorgeous feathers..love all the different shapes colours and patterns :)

Ascender Rises Above said...

you are so amazing to know all the origins of things like feathers and plants and birds etc.
i like the poem below: seal = bouy.

ramblingwoods said...

I love taking photos of feathers. Just a note of caution. Let the feather sit outside or put it in a bag in the freezer because it could have some little mites or something that you would bring into your home.. Michelle

Deb said...

Oh! I wish I could tell you. I think the one to the left of the large one on the top *might* be a Scottish version of our band-tail pigeon (wing feather). The color pattern is a little different, but similar. The shape and frothy feathers are the same.

(We've been collecting our band-tails' feathers, and the flickers', too. What joy.)

This is a beautiful collection!

Anonymous said...

All of those feathers look beautiful. I have a book on feathers for north america. So much to learn in life.

shadows and clouds said...

your feather collection is so lovely and delicate, that's a fab idea too. i think it would be quite difficult in our house as our cats have a habit of finding such things and playing (ruining) with them!