Armed with a ‘quick unpick ’, I started opening one end. Feathers escaped and floated out in my freshly swept house. I moved onto the veranda. The wind was blowing, so very soon, there were lots more wafting about and sticking to my t-shirt. I worked them down into the case as best I could and finished opening one end. I managed to upend and tip most of the feathers into a plastic bag. Moving onto the grass, I turned the casing inside out and shook it vigorously to dislodge the rest. Loads blew across toward ‘Queen of Clean’s house (serve her right for putting this daft idea into my head). It looked as though I’d plucked a chicken out there. I persevered and did two more, moving around the garden to distribute ‘plucked chicken’ effect. The casings then had a good soaking, before being washed, rinsed and dried in the sun. Smelling fresh and looking a whole lot better, the feathers now had to be stuffed back inside. Yet more escaped, but finally the openings were hand-stitched closed.
Was it worth it? Yes....especially as a Seychelles sunbird has, I’m sure, used some of the feathers that were lying around to create the little overhanging porch above the entrance to her beautiful little nest. She has built this in one of the star-fruit trees in our garden and the inside too, looks white and downy. It is wonderful to see her going in head first and then turning around and sitting there with her long curved bill protruding. They only lay one egg and the female does all the incubating, (11 – 16 days) and most of the feeding of the nestling.P.S. On Sunday the 9th of November, her very large chick had his/her solo flight...and they all lived happily ever after.
