poem 12: The Nest

The Nest

The home was a threat before the hornets froze out in this year’s short winter. Since December I watched the nest deaden. In March I cut the branches from the tree.
It was the weight from the shell that made my body
ache and the caved wall in the side of the beast
that exposed its thousand eyes, the jealous lover.


With its eyes, its shell, its wanting,
the old hive made me a woman.
So now I can eulogize
half the population with:
she was a woman too.
Meaning: we are organs
and all the keys are down.


I learn yearly how to love.
This usually happens at the start
of fall. Now I am half way through
the year and I am hungry.

*

Reading about hornets, I learn the queen
can survive through the harshest months
in a slumber. I learn she is home and bodied.

-marlo barrera, march 2010

Help me identify these feathers, please!

Here are some feathers I have found and been given in the last year.  I am sure what a couple of them are but I guess not so confident.  For the life of me I could not figure out how to put text on the images so here is some information.

These two feathers are both pretty large.  The first one (a) is about 7.5 inches while the other one (b) is just slightly bigger.  (a) was found in Oberlin, OH and (b) what found in Pittsburgh, PA.  I suspect (b) is some sea bird.

This next group is great.  They will be named (c) through (g) from left to right.  They are all much smaller than (a) and (b).  All five were found in Oberlin, OH.  

**UPDATE: (c) is from a Northern Flicker Woodpecker (there are 7 species of woodpecker in Ohio) and (f) is a confirmed blue jay feather.  Hooray!

Here are their sizes:

(c) about two inches long

(d) two inches (I LOVE this one)

(e) almost three inches

(f) This one is my favorite.  It is about four inches long.  The other side does not have the pretty blue markings, only the black and white.  I suspect this is from a blue jay.

(g) I think this one is from a cardinal.  It is about 4 inches.

Please post any inklings of suspicions or pass this blog around to people who might know.   Also, if you have a feather you loved once or haven't had the chance to love and want to get rid of it, send it my way.  Just ask for my mailing address.  In return I will send you something nice.  We could trade things.

Here are some other things I collect:

-field guides and nature guides (especially those that are hand drawn or a strange sort of topic--- I have one only for eggs-- and those that are full page drawings too.)

-navigation guides and guides on what things I can eat (i.e. edible wild plants, mushrooms)

-particularly beautiful compasses (I only have one right now.  It's always in my pocket.)

-stuff with birds on it

-old found egg shells

-abandoned nests from birds that won't return to them for the next mating season

-snake skins

-any other sort of beautiful and nice things (I have many buckeyes because I love them and old broken black walnuts, a mermaid's purse)

-dead bugs (i.e. intact bees, moths and butterflies, shells of scary big things)

Also, please let me know if you have any ideas of how to store or display these feathers!

Thanks for your help!