when you are blond with some scandinavian blood and you go to high school and college in minnesota and wisconsin, everybody, and i mean everybody, has a cousin “who looks just like you.” so here are two unrelated northern species. i wonder if the willow leaf gets sick of hearing how much it looks just like a yellow-shafted flicker feather.

northern flicker tail feather, and autumn willow leaf

vadnais lake trail, saint paul, minnesota