Feather Focus

I’ve been trying to write this post about feathers for weeks now, but my brain seems reluctant to string words together.

The world news makes almost everything else seem feather-light and trivial.

But sometimes, I can’t sustain the wide-eyed, wide-angle focus on the state of things. I just have to zoom in on something small and close by … something that has a pattern and seems to make sense of the world for a moment or two.

“Hope” is the the thing with feathers ” by Emily Dickinson is the first thing to float into my mind when thinking of feathers.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

The line that stands out to me the most in this beautiful poem at the current time of reading is “And sings the tune without the words -”

I often wish we could just stop and listen to the wordless tune that nature belts out every day, whether we’re paying attention or not.

Lately, it seems as if words, used so rarely as a means of getting to real understanding, are only getting us into more trouble.

It gets hard to hear the “thing with feathers” amid the Gale of unfiltered information thundering around us.

To avoid adding too many more of my own words to the storm, here are a few feathers to consider in quietness.

A tiny, fingernail-sized mystery feather I found in the garden recently

Greatly magnified Anna’s Hummingbird feathers

Feathers always look best on the bird …

Female Wood Duck feather detail

Male Wood Duck feather detail

Below is a Sooty Grouse tail feather that I found, inexplicably, in our 100% grouse-free urban neighbourhood.

Fabulously blue Steller’s Jay feathers

Proud owner of the electric blue feathers

Red-winged blackbird epaulettes

Crow feathers, newly grown in after the moulting season — just in time for the winter rains

The miracle of Starling feathers

I was actually on the point of abandoning this blog post altogether when I had a visit from Sparky, “the thing with feathers” personified. He gave me a fizzy starling pep talk.

A new print — “Hope is the thing.

 

 

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Red Hot Fall Fashion Tips

Bringing you, direct to you from the runways of East Vancouver, the very latest in autumn fashion inspiration. I encourage you to leaf through the new trends and adopt some elements to create your very own signature fall look.

I can guarantee  you will stand out from the crowd.

Eric and Clara Molting Sept 2018

Eric and Clara model “dragged through a hedge backwards” look that is so of the moment.

 

The Statement Nostril

I really can’t over emphasize the importance this new must-have fashion staple!

A particularly severe molting season this year has left many a corvid nostril exposed to the elements. As with most things in life, if you got it, you might as well flaunt it.

 

Nostrils

Flaunt those nostrils …

Marvin's Nostrils

Own those nostrils!

 

How To Wear It

This season’s look screams, “I don’t care what I look like!” along with a touch of “I’ve pretty much given up on grooming.”

A determinedly devil-may-care attitude is required to successfully pull off this somewhat challenging fashion trend.

So worth the effort though. Just look at the results when it’s successfully done …

Feather Flaunting

Don’t be shy. Get out there and strut your tattered stuff.

Mabel with Pizza

Mabel, last year’s calendar cover model, demonstrates how the careful use of accessories can help pull off this look. A bit of hard old pizza in your beak makes you the indisputable Queen of the Runway.

Multicolour Molting Crow

Who you lookin’ at?

 

The Neck Ruffle

Hot from the fashion presses, this dynamic new look is a sort of mullet hybrid.

Quite the party in back, although not much business in front (see next trend below.)

Neck Ruffle

 

Mrs Pants Silhouette

The Indie Beard

This electrifying new trend is taking all of East Van by storm. Some humans even sport the look. While thoroughly of the new and now, we see in it a nod to the first beatnik hipsters.

Mr. Pants (such a fashion guru) was an early adopter of this bold new facial experiment …

Mr. Pants Beard

 

But now some of the younger crows are hopping on the straggly chin bandwagon …

Marvin Beard

Marvin thinks he looks pretty groovy.

 

The Most Important Fall Fashion Question

Of course, these are only fads and foibles. What those of us in the know most want to find out is:

Will Mr. Pants regain his full trousered splendour after the molting season???

Here he was, back in early August when his Pants were at their most magnificent.

Rhapsody in Purple

Things have been looking a little sparser of late …

Molting Mr Pants

But, take heart, Pants fans.

I checked a post I wrote this time last year and voila, our cover model was Mr. Pants himself, taken in August 2017 with a full set of glorious pantaloons.

This gives me great hope that His Pantship will be back in full regalia once the molting season is over.

Mr Pants 2017

We do hope you’re going to try some of these looks, brought to you by the Crow-dashians of East Vancouver. Do send us any photos of the results!

I have felt a bit like one of those fashion bloggers who photograph edgy street fashion over the past few days. It’s been quite a laugh.

Seriously though, the poor crows are kind of miserable and irritable during the molting season, so do be nice to them. If it’s still dry where you are, think of leaving them some water. Kind words are also always appreciated.


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www.junehunter.com

 

September studio sale 2018 LEAVES

Fall Fashion Tips

Crow Gifts of All Kinds

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I have to admit, I have been a bit envious of the little girl in Seattle* who has received so many fabulous gifts from the crows she feeds every day in her garden.

My local crow, Eric, and his family don’t usually leave me anything, except that which is white and rather slimy.

But the more I think about the nature of gift giving and receiving, I realize that I’ve gained many things, large and small, from my relationship with crows.

Some things are both large and small at the same time.

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Take the feather, for instance.

I was busy. I was putting out the recycling in the lane behind my studio. I noticed a small fluffy crow under-feather on the ground by the blue box. I picked it up and looked at it.

It was really beautiful. But I said to myself, “June, pull yourself together, you have book-keeping to get to. You can’t get distracted by every feather you find.”

I let go of the feather and it floated in the air. I walked back to the gate and re-entered the garden. The feather wafted along with me. As I closed the gate behind me, the feather snuck in.

At that point I felt that being actively followed by a feather must be a sign that the book-keeping could wait.

feather photos

I spend an hour taking detailed photographs of that feather. The images are integrated into many of my favourite compositions. To most, it just looks like an interesting texture. But to me, it’s a little reminder that the book-keeping can always wait.

A lesson and a gift from the crows.

shopify yoga crow banner

 

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Eric’s greatest gift to me is that he allows me to take his picture. There is a reciprocal agreement, of course, with peanuts being involved. Still, Eric is exceptional in his willingness to be photographed. I have been a crow observer and photographer for years now, and found that most crows are immediately terrified and/or evasive when something is pointed at them, peanuts or no peanuts. No doubt they have strong ancestral memories of being shot at by things other than cameras.

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Eric, perhaps because he’s seen me out with my camera so many times, is far less fearful. Which has given me the priceless gift of getting to “know” and capture images of an individual crow and his family ties and foibles. Eric has a “sliding scale” of how close I can be to him, based on the offerings I present. For the usual peanuts, I can be two feet away. For mouldy cheese or slightly stale sausage, a foot or less is permitted. He is the dominant bird among his group, always grabbing the biggest and choicest pieces of food before the others dare to sneak in. But he’s also an affectionate partner and parent.

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In some ways, the crows’ greatest gift is their potential role as a “gateway” to appreciating urban nature of all kinds.

In her wonderful book, Crow Planet, author Lyanda Lynn Haupt points out that these birds are “the most oft-encountered native wild animal” in most peoples’ lives. Learning to appreciate their intelligence, humour, agility and essential crow-ness can be the first step along the road celebrating all of nature, in the city and beyond.

As John Marzluff points out in his latest book, Subirdia, it is critical that humans maintain a “thirst to remain part of nature” in order to moderate our competing hunger for development, expansion and the continued degradation of the natural world.

So, while I still dream of some day receiving a little trinket from Eric as a token of our “friendship”, I’m happy just to enjoy his company each morning. Every day I notice some new things about the crow life he leads. While I watch him, I also soak up the beauty of the sky, the trees, and the light in the chickadee’s eye.

And I always keep any eye open for any crow feathers that might float by.


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If you’d like to read more about Eric, check out my earlier blog post Who Is Eric?

*More on the BBC story about the Seattle girl receiving gifts from her local crows.

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