A surprise find!
Sharon and I were walking along the main road just past the ‘Crown and Anchor corner’ when we noticed this feather on the path. Amazing! we knew it was some sort of Peacock, but not the traditional big Indian Peacock. A bit of investigation and we found out it was the tail feather from a Malayan Peacock-pheasant Polyplectrum malacense - at Spurn? Remarkable! Was one at large and undetected?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_Peacock-pheasant
Further investigation was revealing. Have a careful look at the photo below, taken one day earlier at the local Cancer Charity Sponsored Bike Ride. Hiawatha wannabe (a.k.a. Mick Turton), right of centre seems to provide the answer.
Hi Martin
Great detective work!
Knowing Mick as well as we do I’m sure he will have picked that feather up on one of the trails at Frasers hill or Taman Negara. Expect he would love to get it back
Thanks Martin- he got it back!
Class photo!
Probably obtained in Taman Negara or somewhere similar as Malayan Peacock Pheasant is very much a lowland species. It’s Mountain Peacock Pheasant at Fraser’s (and they’re bloody hard to find). I feel like a right pedant for pointing it out. Sorry.