A change of the wardrobe!

Walking always seems to be a good time to ponder things.  While out and about in the fresh air with nothing clogging the brain, I can usually delve deep into all sorts of things.  The peace and quiet of the Bayou offers no interruptions.  Today's pondering?  Feathers! As Ms. Ez and I meandered about the hillside this afternoon, I noticed a large feather on the ground.  Being the curious person that I am, I picked up the feather to examine it closer.  Hmmm?  I do believe this was an owl feather!  It was creamy in color with brown markings but the telltale characteristic that led me to an owl was the wispy, fringe-like edge to the feather.  This soft edge allows the owl to fly silently through the air.  The fringe breaks up or muffles the sound of the air rushing over the wing.  If you ever have the opportunity to be near an owl in flight..listen! You will be hard-pressed to hear anything!  The owl is the original "Stealth"!  It is no wonder that they are expert hunters!  

There is nothing unusual about finding an occasional feather while out walking but today was a tad different.  I found twenty-six feathers all within a time frame of about twenty minutes.  Along with the one large owl feather, I found two smaller, softer feathers from an owl.  Then I found some from blue jays, doves, redwinged blackbirds and redheaded woodpeckers.   There are a couple of feathers that I have not positively identified.   Still, it was interesting that I found so many feathers today.  I thought some of these feathers might have been lost during some squabble or maybe from a larger bird attacking a smaller one but the randomness of their placement gave me doubts of this.  None were in close proximity to others.  They were scattered over the entire hill leading me to think this was more feather loss due to molting.  Perhaps the birds are shedding their breeding plumage and trading it for their non-breeding plumage of winter.  It is sort of like us pulling out our winter sweaters in preparation for the coming cooler weather! Ahh, yes...cooler weather..sounds nice!