Findhorn Bay roost

£155

New limited edition print!

Print details:

Paper size; 447mm x 590mm
Image size; 345mm x 490mm
Edition size; 150

It’s high tide at Findhorn Bay on the Moray coast of north east Scotland. The water is still, reflecting the distant, pine-clad hills. Large numbers of waders wait out the tide by sleeping. Most stand on one leg to save energy and to conserve heat by tucking unfeathered extremities under feathers.

This painting shows a small part of a much larger flock and comprises a lone redshank surrounded by the smaller dunlin – the buff-fringed feathers of their upperparts identifying them as juveniles. It’s September and these birds have newly arrived from breeding grounds in northern Scandinavia and Russia.

I liked the way they were all standing in more-or-less the same position but that the bright orange leg of the redshank cut through this uniformity.