Mystery feather soft hackle 2.0

[Ron Eagle Elk]

REE, Otto,
I'm well aware that possession of certain feathers are prohibited and that's why I said found, not have.
Theres a large dead elm tree along the river behind my house that is a favorite spot for a few eagles.
They will preen while waiting for a fish to show and as a result, I find quite a few feathers which I stick
into the tree where they just weather away. It kills me that you cant keep a molted feather but that's
the way it is.

REE, several years ago I would visit a Raptor Trust located in New Jersey and by making a donation,
you could obtain a bag of molted feathers with a certificate of origan from the trust.
I've heard of other wildlife rehabs that did the same thing but I don't know if that's still the case.

Thanks guys.

Rick, Shortly after I retired from the Army I was a volunteer at a Wildlife Rehab Center. We had the largest flight cage in the North West at that time. We handled everything from Mountain Lions and Black Bears to Raptors and Owls and baby possums and skunks. Unfortunately, we got in a lot of Eagles that were suffering from pesticide poisoning. Because they were a protected species, only a veterinarian who was on the federal list could end the birds suffering. Molted feathers and deceased birds had to be turned over to the feds, who in turn would pass them to tribal members who were on the waiting list. That may have relaxed some since the 1980's.

As an aside...bottle feeding baby skunks can be an interesting experience.

REE

[newriverspey]

Hi Rick,

Thank you for clarifying, and I apologize if I came across as accusational. A while ago, I had an experience with a friend who found some feathers on his property and used them to tie some flies. The flies turned out to be absolutely beautiful. However, when he brought them to a fly tying show along with the feather, it caused quite a stir as it was discovered that the feather came from an owl. This incident created quite a hullabaloo and made me a bit paranoid. I will leave behind all the feathers I have found and any flies I've tied using those feathers.

Hi Ron,

Here are the close up pictures of a single barbules and the feather it came from. It almost resembles chic marabou, which has made me wonder how that work as ribing for a fly.

[ronr]

thanks Otto... goose does not even come close... I did try ostrich, but its just not the same.. I have continued to play with using different wing feathers that I have to get ribs close to your fly. I really like the effect with the space between wraps allowing the thread to show through. I have twisted various materials with a strand of flashabou, or crystal flash, which makes an interesting body as well.

[newriverspey]

Hi Ron,

I got the idea from one of the tiers that I met here in Japan. He twists crystal flash with the barbule and it really looks good. Do you have chick marabou? One of the tiers uses it combined with crystal flash.

Otto