somateria mollissima

This subspecies of Common Eider borealis from Svalbard has a yellow bill.

Here you can compare these two spp. Look for; Headshape, coloration and jizz

This bird is familar to most birders who have spent time on the northeast coast of North America, but I hadn't, and it was new to me. They stay quite a ways from shore, and I took many exposures to come up with a few keepers. The male looks a lot more dramatic in breeding season; this is...

Common indeedx along the coasts of Nova Scotia, and considered a pest by the local mussel farmers

This bird & its partner left the sea & waddled up to some deep rockpools which they worked sequentially for shore crabs. Often the water was too shallow to dive in but despite this the crab pate came thick & fast.

I was struggling to get my first shot of an Eider at a distance from the coast. Turned the corner and the harbour was full of them!

Another one from Christmas Eve. One of the few left, close to land.

A shot from earlier in the year.

Spent a long time, walking along the jetty, North Haven beach, Fair Isle, very, very slowly until I got exactly where I wanted to be, took lots including female eiders as well.

Another ''photo'' lifer!

Whilst visiting the Farne Islands last week the harbour at Seahouses proved very good for Eider, especially in the evenings. http://www.rusticolus.co.uk

This is one of a pair that was quietly paddling along the coast of the Mediterranean. The out-of-focus foreground is a rock on the shoreline. Finding them that far south was quite a surprise.

Last bird I photographed in 2005