3 days in Northumberland - Eider Ducks

I have yet to photograph Eider Ducks on the Farne Islands themselves. However, Seahouses harbour is a very reliable location for these birds, particularly female Eiders, and this year was no exception. As the boat landed on the first day I spotted a small group of females with their chicks. The birds were very approachable, obviously well used to human activity in and around the harbour.

 

Female Eider

Female Eider

 

Female Eider

 

After a short while I packed up my gear and headed back to the car to put my tent up whilst the sun was shining. As I walked along the sea front I spotted two fellow photographers with their cameras and big lenses trained towards the sea. I went over to them and soon found myself doing the same, adding my 1.4x teleconverter (the only time I used the converter during my whole trip) to get closer to the subject - a male Eider.

Like most bird species, the male Eider is more spectacular than the female. Essentially another black and white bird, although this time predominantly white, they can again play havoc with a camera's exposure meter. I ended up keeping only a relatively small number of the images I took.

 

Male Eider

Male Eider

Male Eider   

 Male Eider

 

For more images of Eider Ducks please click here