Male Eider in Hamilton Dock

On Sunday 5th March, I drove down and parked by Hamilton road, I walked to the east end and saw the fine male Eider was sat/ stood on the concrete balustrade. It stood up and then flopped into the dock and swam and eventually started fishing really close in by the bay. It was catching lots of crabs at least a dozen were caught during the 2 hour period of observation. It would dive for several minutes typically resurfacing with a crab caught by its legs it would then shake it vigorously just beneath the surface and then it would swallow the body whole. It then swam close into the shore and finally got up into the close by bay and settled down. It was good to see David B and his wife who had initially missed the bird and only came back when they saw me peering over the fence snapping the bird when it rested on the concrete balustrade then later on to meet Rihanna, who has already built up an impressive library of local bird pictures and then Roger and Jon.