Through the window I see sky, hellebores and narcissi and red Japanese quince in spring, passionflowers in summer, and all year round sparrows making a playful kerfuffle of water, feathers and sunlight in the "Boy" bird-bath left to my daughter Rosa by her great-great-aunt Gwynneth.
These colourful rituals, involving turquoise ornaments to represent water and feathers to stand in for the wind, were to urge the gods to send a storm.
Ballard attributed their poor performance under sail to the drag of the propeller, which could neither be hoisted out of the water, nor feathered.
Be aware that birds make a mess with their seeds, their water, their feathers and so forth and making noise.
The capture of AIV from experimentally contaminated waters by feathers and swabs impregnated with preen oil strongly suggests that virus particles accumulate on preened feathers in natural environments.
The researchers also found that the hummingbird's water-resistant feathers absorbed 50% of the impact from the heavy falling drops, helping the animal stay light in flight, and in control no matter the weather.
It's not safe to co-sleep on a water-bed, feather-bed or other overly-soft sleeping surface.
After applying the lightener we washed the remains from the feathers with water and left the feathers to dry.
