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The Daily Bucket: Life and Death in the Forest [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-25  

I came upon a pile of feathers a few days ago while walking my dogs through Hutt Park. Hutt Park is a small pocket of allegedly remnant old-growth forest no more than 2 acres in area nestled among a neighborhood of single-family homes in my town of Edmonds. The park does have some big western redcedar and Douglas fir, including one huge Doug fir with a broken top. Hutt Park is part of my standard dog walking loop of about 2 miles. I came upon this pile of feathers (title photo) in Hutt Park indicating that some hapless bird became the victim of a Cooper’s Hawk or maybe an owl. Let’s do a little detective work and figure out who was the victim. Come with me Dr. Watson.

THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS. WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

Let’s review the evidence in the following photos.

The crime scene (title photo)

The victim

Wing feathers

Hmmm, a tail feather

Whoa, more tail feathers

Any guesses?

For found feathers my online expert is the USFWS Feather Atlas. Here you can find photos of all manner of feathers by species. You can do a search using pattern, color, and other characteristics, which is what I did. Here’s what I found!

Band-tailed Pigeon! Did you guess it?

That’s all I have for you today. Thanks to all you junior detectives for coming along on my dog walk.

With the onset of rainy season, there are a ton of mushrooms popping up everywhere here in western Washington. What’s going on in everyone’s worlds?

Thanks for reading the Daily Bucket.

Phenology is how we take earth’s pulse.

We discuss what we see in each Bucket.

We value all observations, as we ponder life’s cycles.

Now it’s your turn.

Please comment about your own natural area, and include photos if possible. We love photos!

To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow, and join to write a Bucket of your own observations.

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