Day 8: Connecting with nature to improve my wellbeing in the dark days of winter, by examining a feather closely
A Tiny White Feather
The tiny white feather was partially wrapped around a Dock stem. I cut the mini wild flower meadow down by hand in the Autumn so that I can spread any seed and not accidentally cut down a plant I want to keep. The Dock is close to the pond and so I didn’t cut it back because I thought it may provide shelter for any of the animals that visit the pond. The tiny white feather was stuck to this Dock.
Where did the feather come from?
This tiny feather is a pigeon feather. When pigeons fly off they often will shed one of these downy white breast feathers. We have pigeons visiting garden for the sunflower hearts that drop out of the bird feeder. The pigeons also like the Cotoneaster berries – but they polished most of those off in early Autumn. We have wood pigeons roosting in the oak trees in the back garden. So, these often visit our front garden.
Why are there so many pigeons in our towns and cities?
Pigeons are fantastic generalists. So, they can eat lots of different types of food. This means that they can live in lots of different environments. However, pigeons also have an amazing adaptation. Pigeons like all birds have a crop. This crop is a pre-stomach chamber where birds can store food (& tiny stones to break down tough seed coatings). Pigeons have cells in their crop that secrete a protein rich substance called “crop milk”. Baby pigeons are fed on this “crop milk” along with food from their parents’ crops. This means pigeons have a longer breeding season. This is why there are so many pigeons in our towns and cities.
The pigeons in my wildlife garden are wood pigeons. The pigeons in our towns and cities are rock doves.
A week of connecting with nature
This time last week I had just started my Dark Days December Challenge. I am going to be honest. I thought it would be easier to motivated myself to get outside when I got home from work. However, the dark evenings make that really difficult. Once I have got home and done all of my jobs – it is difficult to go outside again. My body and mind both want to be getting ready for bed, snuggled up under a blanket or a duvet (or both).
I work fulltime, so it is tiring this time of year in particular. Also, I often have to do some work in the evenings. So, balancing going outside to connect with nature, writing a short blog piece and doing some work is tricky. But, there is no doubt that I definitely feel better for getting outside and focusing solely on nature for 10-15 minutes every evening.