Finding Feathers. Looking for Orioles.

It's May. The Winter of 2011 is over. Finally. We have green grass, buds on trees and flowers blooming everywhere. The geese are returning along with a multitude of other species of winged creatures, including an incredible finch who has been impressing me for years with his repertoire but has only just allowed me to see him. I have a small birdhouse that he's claimed, and he has been entertaining me every morning with his cheery song list.

Yesterday morning, something happened that just felt too special to not mean something significant. I wandered out into the pasture to drop a small pile of hay for the girls, as I often do when the grass isn't quite enough to sustain them for the day, and I found an incredible feather on the grass very close to where the sheep have their morning meal. I picked it up, looked into the sky (like the bird would still be up there, really?) and smiled at my Annie Dillard moment. Upon walking into the barn, I found another incredible feather on the hay strewn floor; this was especially weird, as the feather was in perfect shape and the barn doors had been closed all night. How the sheep did not trample the delicate thing is a mystery...right along with how it got in there in the first place. Holding both of the these feathers and smiling away as I walked up the hill to the house, I could not believe it when I found a third feather on my front step. Granted, this one was small and probably a result of either Loki or Odin bothering a bird in the front bushes, but it was resting in the center of the step and impossible to miss as I walked into the house.

three feathers

After doing a little research yesterday, I believe the grey and white one (which I found first) may be that of a peregrine falcon. From what I found online, it appears that the other large one could belong to a red-tailed hawk. The little one is from either a starling or a robin, I believe. Whatever they are and from whomever they fell, I feel pretty lucky to have found them all.

And, on another aviary note, my attempts to lure the orioles back to my yard have begun. I sliced two oranges in half and impaled them onto branches of my forsythia bush, close to where they had made a nest several years ago.  The old lilac that they had called home several years ago came down in a wild storm and their beautiful, empty nest came down with it. I admired the beauty and craftsmanship of their nest for years before it finally decomposed and I added it to the compost pile. Hoping for their return ro to be able to enjoy flashes of bright orange birds for months to come.

Oranges for Orioles