Common Eider duck

Days long back, looking from Ertholmene at the eider ducks out on the Baltic sea, the largest kind of duck in the Northern hemisphere

Male Common Eider Watercolor painting

Watercolor and text by Frits Ahlefeldt

Sitting on a bench, drawing I didn’t realize there was a female eider duck on its nest right under the bench. Bending one leg after a while, my feet came a bit too close to the nest and the female napped it lightly, making me aware of its presence. It wasn’t scared, stayed on the nest. The Erthomene islands are without mammals and the eider ducks are breeding around on them in spring. In the gardens and between the houses

I quietly got up and moved a few meters to the side, not to disturb the duck. The eider males were out on the water, but painting up this study of a large male reminded me of the day back then.

Watercolor of the Common eider male in breeding plumage ( Somateria mollissima )

See more of my watercolor stories of animals

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