Collecting

Sep 19, 2009 by Naomi.

There is always interest in collectibles. Just exactly what is a collection? Coins? Stamps? Thimbles? Barbed wire? Refrigerator magnets? Rural phone line insulators? I’ve got them all. And then some. How about a feather collection? My specimens date from 1994 to the present and include feathers I personally picked up far from home, now carefully fastened in plastic and labeled with place and country of origin.

The Magnificient Frigatebird feathers and Minah Bird I got when I was on Culebra in Puerto Rico, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and Galah are from Australia, Flamingo from Africa, Brown Gull collected by Alex on Whitby Island, Stellar Jay from Bellingham, Crow collected by Morgan from Everett, Canada Goose and hawk from McNary NWR, and Robin, Rock Dove, and White Swan, from Richland. Did I have help? Oh yes, and I am most appreciative.

Some of my items came from bird lovers. My favorite nature and bird guide, Mark Smith, sent feathers from a Ring-necked Parrot and a Violet-tipped Courser from Jamaica, an African Chukar, and Great Horned Owl.

Birds have the same skeletal structure as humans, indeed as all vertebrates, except many of the bones are hollow filled only with air, not marrow. But beyond the bone definitions, birds have structures on their skin called feathers which aid in flight, thermal insulation, waterproofing and coloration. And humans dreamed of flying from the first time birds were observed. The best I can do is collect the the feathers that they drop.

In our walks to the beach for our morning swims in Culebra, Nancy Young, an old friend from a school dispute over the elementary school in Sartell, Minnesota, checked on turtle nests and loose horses. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the birds then but couldn’t resist taking feathers from The Magnificient Frigatebird when we came upon a carcass.

The feathers I have from Australia came from my visit to Millamolong, a Polo Station that trained polo ponies and men to play in matches. I watched the game closely and because I was close I was given the privilege of rolling out the “first ball” to start each chukker. I swam with the platypus in Millamolong River and watched the parrot-like Cockatoos fuss and chatter on the branches above.

Well that is how much I can go on about one of my collections and I have only just begun. Is it any wonder that I do not have time to get worn out like the old clunkers President Obama is getting off the highways? Maybe I will break down some when I blow out all 82 of my birthday candles.

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