Eiders

I went down to Ocean Terminal and had a keek at the docks while I was there. There were lots of cormorants clustered round Anthony Gormley, but I was rather intrigued by this pair of eiders. Somateria mollissima, it seems.When I first saw them they were progressing at speed to the right, with the male well out in front. At some point he thought to turn his head and noticed that the missus had turned back and was heading away from him. He did the duck version of a handbrake turn and surged back to overtake her. I think she's giving him a look...

They are not paddling through a sea of blood, by the way. but the reflection of a large red ship called the Acergy Energy.