Monday, March 3, 2014

Male Eider Courting

Male Eider Courting
(Somateria mollissima) in the uninhabited
 Bjarneyjar Island Archipelago in the bay of Breiðafjörður  
off the west coast of Iceland on June 11, 2005,  
sketched on March 3, 2014
7" x 5", Winsor & Newton watercolors, #3 graphite, on 140 lb.
Strathmore Series 500 hot press archival watercolor paper
unframed, sold framed, $100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping
Note:
Male eiders in their striking black and white with a hint of green on their necks are amusing to watch while courting females, proudly puffing out their breasts as balloons, tilting their heads back, and calling out the most distinctive soft "ah-roooo", again and again, while swimming by a group of females, who are in camouflage browns. I lived with them for five weeks on their Icelandic island which is uninhabited by humans.

2 comments:

Celeste Bergin said...

what a beautiful bird!

martine paquet said...

Funny ! Does he really walk like this to impress a young lady eider?