Good, productive afternoon! First, I thinned the wings in the area of the secondary flight feathers, which was necessary to give a realistic look to the rear edge of the wings. Then, I worked using various bits to define the secondary flight feathers on the top and bottom of the wing, as well as the edges of the primary and secondary coverts (the feathers that cover the long shafts of the major flight feathers. Doesn't sound like much when I write this, but it was about three hours of steady work.
The late afternoon sun provided a good source of sharp shadows, so I positioned the wings in the table when I was done for the day, and took some photos. The top photo shows the underside of the right wing, and the viewer can appreciate (I hope) how the primary flight feathers slide underneath the secondary feathers as the wing is folded. The ugly-looking bulge on the wing near the bay will soon be the tertiary feathers, which I call the underarm feathers". These are not flight feathers, and are not anchored to any bones of the arm. They partially fill in the gap between the secondary feathers and the body when the wings are spread wide.
The photo below shows the top of the right wing, and agin the viewer can see how the primaries are in the process of tucking themselves under the secondaries. In a perching bird, only the tips of the primary feathers can usually be seen; the wing feathers that show the most are the secondaries and their coverts.
Slowly but surely, the carving is starting to resemble a real bird. Remember that these pictures show a work in progress, so the finished product will be much neater.
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