Anyone who has spent time on the rugged, castle-fringed coast of Northumberland will be familiar with the call of the eider duck. The male emits a fluty 'ahoooh' that sounds amazed and a little censorious. The female responds with a throaty cackle-Dame Barbara Windsor to the drake's Kenneth Williams, if you like. There's something good humoured, fond and comforting in the eiders' calling. It evokes feelings of nostalgia even in those hearing it for the first time.
The male eider is a seafaring dandy. There is a rosy flush to his white chest, a black flash like a Harlequin mask across his eyes and a streak of pistachio green down the back of his head. The female is altogether more practical. No show off, her reddish-brown plumage-which gives her the impression of a waddling Dundee cake camouflages her among the dried beds of washed-up kelp in which the ducks make their nests.
Northumberland is England's great breeding ground for eiders, which, hardy northerners that they are, rarely venture below the mouth of the River Tyne. The sea duck is the county's emblematic bird, its place in local hearts cemented by its relationship to Northumberland's patron saint, the simple, pious 7th-century hermit Cuthbert-known locally by the fond diminutive Cuddy.
この記事は Country Life UK の October 16, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Country Life UK の October 16, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
A Nose for Nature -With an uncanny ability to detect elusive species in the wild, dogs are poised to play a vital role in conservation and biosecurity.
Ꮓiba seems to be the perfect colleague: hard-working, efficient and fun to be around. However, Ziba isn't a person; she's a conservation detection dog, especially trained to sniff out the presence of rare bats and birds. The sixyear-old German shorthaired pointer is one of an increasing number of dogs helping to conserve wildlife. Similar to sniffer dogs employed to detect drugs or explosives, these detection dogs are using their extraordinary sense of smell to identify anything from great crested newts to pine martens.
Duck and Cover - With a comical and heart-warming call, the eider or 'cuddy duck' is a convivial bird that was highly favoured and protected by Northumberland's patron saint, says
Anyone who has spent time on the rugged, castle-fringed coast of Northumberland will be familiar with the call of the eider duck. The male emits a fluty 'ahoooh' that sounds amazed and a little censorious. The female responds with a throaty cackle-Dame Barbara Windsor to the drake's Kenneth Williams, if you like. There's something good humoured, fond and comforting in the eiders' calling. It evokes feelings of nostalgia even in those hearing it for the first time.
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