Glorious Feathers

You will remember that leaping stream 
where sweet aromas rose and trembled, 
and sometimes a bird, wearing water 
and slowness, its winter feathers.

Pablo Neruda
Love Sonnet IV (excerpt)
100 Love Sonnets

Detail – Egret wing feathers.

Please click here to see more of the Egret.

Translucent. Gossamer. Delicate.

I have held an egret feather in my hands, and marveled at it’s near transparency. Looking at the photo above, the individual feathers are all so translucent that you can see how the layers of a wing are built, feather upon feather.

In my post Once You Have Tasted Flight, the onion-skin thinness of an egret’s wing feathers stands out more starkly: the outline of the bird’s wing bones shines through. (Please click here if you missed that photo.)

The feathers are nearly-transparent and yet an egret can fly 25 mph.

Translucent, gossamer, and delicate – yes.

But not at all weak.

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Thanks to Ailsa for the Weekly Travel Theme: Delicate.

Thanks once more to Ese for her Ese’s Weekly Shoot & Quote Challenge – Allure. What has more allure than a silken, white feather?

Also, thanks to the kind folks at NaBloPoMo National Blog Posting Month this November.

Thanks again to Stewart Moncton for the Wild Bird Wednesday prompt.

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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.

(This took place August 20, 2013)

© 2013 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)