Following Feathers

“Feathers fall; soft as a song, light as morning dreams.”
― Eirene Evripidou

I am hiking in Grove Creek Canyon along the Eastern foothills of Pleasant Grove, Utah, one of the several canyons close to my home. For a moment shadow blocks the mid-day sun from above. Looking up, I see the brilliant flame fan of the red tailed hawk, who gives out it’s familiar Screeeeee! It seems to be calling to me as it passes over head again and again, dropping bright feathers along the way to mark my path. I gather these enchanting “breadcrumbs” as I climb up the mountain side towards the jutting cliffs where my winged guide waits.

Such is one of the many dreams I have had over the past few years, that have featured one of my most favorite treasures to find when wandering: Feathers.

And it is conversely true to claim that following feathers has contributed greatly to my wandering.

Turkey Vulture Feathers

A week ago, I was walking up the side of a particular mountain and came across several turkey vulture feathers. This is a place where I often find these remarkable raptor plumes and so I always have one eye to the ground. Turkey vulture feathers are a rich  chocolate brown  that fades from tawny to a beautiful snowy white. The micro barbs of some of the secondary flight feathers and the semi plumes act like a prism, refracting sunlight. In these feathers the result is a beautiful indigo iridescence. Many birds have feathers like this, such as hummingbirds, magpie, and wild turkey. It is utterly enchanting when viewed in person, and one of the many astounding and magical properties of feathers.

There is truly something fascinating about the structure of a feather in general. They look so delicate, yet they are built to endure extremes. Both Peregrines and Gyrfalcons can withstand up to 25 Gs. That’s over 2 times the amount of force (9 g) that a human can tolerate.

Notice the shiny tegmen layer along the rachis of this goose feather.

Feathers further provide insulation against the harshest of environments allowing birds to tolerate a wide range of temperatures from high heat to freezing.

Many birds also have specialized plumes which help a species to flourish in a variety of specific habitats, such as water fowl.

Through preening, aquatic birds are able to spread oils over their feathers to help repel the constant moisture of their watery existence. Water fowl feathers can often easily be identified by a a pronounced tegmen, or waxy layer which is found along the rachis of the primary and secondary feathers which further helps to keep these birds from becoming water logged.

Other birds have plumes that are built to absorb water such as the sandgrouse. Click on the link if you’d like to learn how these inventive birds use this specialized mechanism  to reproduce and thrive in some of the most parched environments on earth.

Sure, a single feather is quite fragile, but the combined force and function of these structures on a single organism makes them a formidable evolutionary development.

Which Came First, the Bird or the Feather?

Turns out it is the feather, as most Jurassic Park aficionados will gladly inform you. Flight was a later adaptation for this interesting feature, which it is theorized started out as an innovation for insulation or display. Sometimes I try to imagine beautifully plumed  Utah-raptors – one of the largest variety of velociraptor running across the high desert mountain meadows where I wander. These feathered dromaeosaurids actually roamed a little further to the south of where I live, it seems. But still, it would be awesome to witness. Just not too close up!

Turkey Feathers…so many beautiful designs on one bird!

If you wander long enough, you begin to notice the many patterns in nature and among these patterns is the seasonal nature of feather finding. Each bird has its migration and molting season. Likewise each has a breeding and hatching season.  Also interactions with other creatures (most of the time, not so great an outcome for the smaller avian set) play a role in the finding of feathers.

In the fall, I have a favorite place to hunt for turkey feathers. These remain one of my favorite feathers to collect because of the sheer variety of patterns and colors to be found. They are just so pretty!

But many times, you run across a feather, or a feather runs across you, without any apparent rhyme or reason. I have had this happen on many occasions and each time I feel a sense of wonder, honor and gratitude.

Throughout time, feathers have been revered as having mystical/ magical properties. Many people believe that found feathers bear messages from higher beings, or from loved ones who have passed on. Sometimes a found feather is  thought to infer magical properties, related to the type of bird it came from, to the person to whom the feather is gifted. Feathers have further played important roles in many cultural ceremonies that are deeply powerful and meaningful, from time immemorial.

Feathers, are perhaps the perfect medium for such events, because of their ethereal nature and their inherent connection to wings and flight…something that lends the ability to move through space in four dimensions versus three as us poor naked apes seem to be bound to, without the aid of artificial devices.  Furthermore, the inclination for up and sky to be associated with “heaven” and flight with angels, promotes this doubly.

And who can really say these events are not serendipitous? The actual scientific reason behind such a kismet as finding a feather, can neither credit NOR can it discredit any meaning that might be in it. It is up to each individual to discover for themselves and I believe that is a beautiful gift.

There also many idioms or proverbs around feathers. One of the most well known is “birds of a feather flock together”.  Which works as a conventional wisdom, as it’s often true that like minded people tend to gather. 

In actuality, however,  birds often participate in what is called mixed species flocking.  I think this fact is quite beautiful and actually points to a bigger wisdom, that was relayed to me once. And that is that we all bear and are sustained by the feathers from one single Great Bird.

If there is one thing I have learned from nature, it’s that no organism, flora or fauna,  can flourish and exists without all the other organisms. Everything is connected and interdependent in this miraculous web that is LIFE. We all partake, act and interact, what touches one, will eventually touch the other. It is beautiful, profound and terribly significant…

Feathers truly are magical in their variety. From the tiny fuchsia tipped jewel tones of the rock pigeon, to the bright cerulean of a jay, to the absolutely show stopping  salmon and black feathers of the northern flicker. Each one is my favorite!!!

To me, finding feathers remains both a miracle and sign. A reminder of a past so vast and strange that we can only imagine, and a harbinger of hope towards a future in which possibility is as open and bright as a hawk circling the sun.

Have you found feathers that are significant to you? If so, please feel free to share in the comments below.

Disclaimer *Please be aware of any state or federal regulations regarding feather gathering, as there are several. But always it is perfectly okay to hunt for feathers to photograph.

Coming Soon! Learn more about the structure of a feather and the 7 types that are found on most birds, in our first video blog. 

Until then, happy wandering…

The Wonder of Wandering

Have you ever wandered just for wanderings sake? Meandered down a trail and then wondered what lay beyond a curious boulder outcropping – so much so, that you let go of any inclination you had to get to a destination, such as the end of the trail or a particular viewpoint?

If so, then this is a blog for you. A blog about  letting go of check lists, destinations and expectation.  A  blog about the items, places, creatures, things and discoveries made by simply exploring. 

Me in one of my juniper tree friends

I consider myself a consummate wanderer. Sure, you could say I hike, but that might be misleading. Instead, I may start at a specific trail,  yet rarely do I end up at the intended destination.  Sometimes I travel far from the beaten path and other times I meander only a few hundred steps before I find what I am “looking” for. Always I discover something intriguing, mysterious, funny, or puzzling. 

I am fortunate to live in an area that is both remarkably close to a beautiful lake and a magnificent mountain range. However, wandering does not require either of these.  Wandering can be done in an empty lot, a nearby park or even the urban jungle. There are many different kinds of wilderness spaces. I think you will be surprised at what you might find, once you let go of trying to get somewhere or fulfill a checklist.

Wasatch Mountains Near my Home
Utah Lake
Me at Utah Lake Image by Rachel Hamilton
View of Utah Lake from Wasatch Mountains

 

 

How, What and Why Wander

The super good news is that you don’t need special equipment or clothing to take up wandering. Some sensible footwear, possibly, depending on where you wander and appropriate attire for your location. ‘Could be from Good Will. As long as it works for you, it’s perfect! 

You also don’t have to be an athlete or even be particularly athletic, though wandering in general might lead towards some gain in fitness, depending on how far it takes you. But again, it is not the aim as wandering eschews such aims, (see below).  You also don’t need to partake of a special diet consisting only of twigs and leaves and maybe donuts, because life without a donuts!?

Unicorn, donut
No Resisting Unicorns or Donuts

Lastly there is no requirement to become a member of a secret society. So no bloodletting , or hat-tipping, nose- nodding or demands that you run naked through the woods while blind folded. (Not a bad idea to try sometime – just for fun, minus the blindfold).

All that is required is a healthy curiosity and the willingness to take a little risk. That risk  being,  giving  yourself permission to open up to the  full sensory experience; to become completely present in the moment.  Something we all did almost everyday, as children, so you’ve most likely already had lots of practice, even if you are a bit rusty from all the adulting you’ve had to endure.

I sometimes like to turn this oft quoted  phrase a bit to say “Lost not are those who wander”.

Wandering by it’s very connotation is about straying a bit from an expected course,(let’s face it – you know you’ve always wanted to) be it a literal trail or some explicit or implicit agenda.  A wanderer’s path is not aimless, though it’s purpose is to have no purpose other than allowing discovery to unfold. In this way wandering is state of BEING, much more than it is of doing. Far from being lost,  wandering is the doorway to finding, to infinite discovery…both inner and outer.

For the wanderer, to miss out on a beautiful journey, for the sake of “accomplishing” a constructed destination would mean being lost…hopefully you are getting the gist, or even better yet, maybe you’ve had it long before I spelled it out on this page.

John Muir

John Muir, the American naturalist and environmental philosopher known as the “Father of the National Parks” sums it up perfectly:

“Off into the woods I go to lose my mind and find my soul”.

I hope you will follow me, and also my fellow wander woman, good friend and contributor to this blog, Christine, through our wandering escapades. And read on to discover a world that is sometimes weird, always wonderful and often beyond belief.  Or better yet, I hope that this blog might lead to adventures of your own.

And as always…happy wandering!

Feel free to tell me about where you wander and what you find in the comment section below. I would love to hear about your discoveries.