woodlandsecret's Favorites

Finally some molted feathers from the local owls! These were found under the same spot, so i’m assuming they’re from the same individual (or maybe not, the primaries have a bit of a different pattern and 3 more owls roosted at this spot last summer). Last year about 10 different roosts filled up with feathers, but i only had luck with this one this time.. no owls have ever been spotted in the park and i’m still hoping to get the chance to observe them based on where they molt their feathers. Undertail covert, 2 primaries and a central tail feather. Hopefully, more to come

Found this melanin deficient fledgling crow right under an active nest along with a set of tertials from another melanin deficient fledgling from the same nest. Seems like the entire brood wasn't fed all that well.

The parents and their remaining live fledglings were surely not amused, i'm probably a target now :')

Found right next to a goshawk feather, and many of the feathers had damage that showed the jay struggled a lot before it died (second image shows an example of that, it’s the damage feathers get when rubbed hardly across the dirt). Last image shows part of the kill site. Sadly many feathers were unretrievable, as the forest they were found at was on a steep incline, and any wrong move could end up with me down the hill. Only got what was safe to catch xd

My very first feather..
Found while hiking with my dad on an unnamed mountain which the locals call Mt.Goritsa.

I saw something shiny from afar on the trail while walking and went closer to inspect it. To my surprise, it wasn't a man-made object, but a beautiful rainbow-colored feather.
It was a pretty windy day, but the feather was held firmly to the ground under a large rock that was on top of its shaft. It was almost as if someone had placed it there intentionally, but the only people that go up there are goat herders. I picked it up and snapped a picture because of its beautiful colors even though i had no idea what bird it was from, not realizing it'd be such a life-changing find which would give birth to a new hobby that would take up a huge chunk of my life.

Magpie feathers may be common but this one is special ~ i still have it up to this day :)

(My name is based on this ~ karakaxa means magpie in Greek)