Eiders

Oil on linen, 50cm x 120cm

Just beyond the breaking waves a party of three eiders ride the swell in a choppy North Sea. I had watched them swim out through the surf, diving through waves before they broke over their heads. They dive to the mussel beds in the shallow water beyond the surf.

This was spring and the two males were clearly ‘after’ the female as they shadowed her wherever she went; patient escorts in the mating game.