They’ve been here all along, holding steady through the cold, riding rough water most species avoid. Now the males are in full black and white, calling, posturing, starting the work of courtship. The females stay quiet, mottled brown, already aligned with the rocky shorelines where they’ll nest.
Look offshore and you’ll see them in rafts, diving in sync for mussels and other shellfish. No flash, no urgency. Just persistence.
Did you know they are a Near Threatened species? Over the past two days at Deer Island, we logged more than a thousand. That matters. After periods of regional decline tied to disease and environmental pressure, seeing numbers like this suggests a rebound, or at least some local resilience.
They are also the largest sea duck in the Northern Hemisphere. Hard to miss, if you take the time to look.
March isn’t a transition. It’s already in motion.
📷 Common Eider · Eider à Duvet (Somateria mollissima) | © Claire O'Neill, please credit accordingly.
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