In winter, I stood by the shore looking out across a bay near the headwaters of the Chesapeake. It was windy and cold but the sun began breaking through the clouds. Earlier, I had noticed a small party of Buffleheads further offshore and now nearby me were a few more. Mostly males, they began chasing a single female. There was a lot of splashing about as one male challenged another during their courtship, then they would all take off and shortly land again suddenly diving underwater. When they surfaced, some sped across the water creating a series of foamy furrows before diving again. I heard one or two of them calling a low rek rek, their bills held only slightly open with the head held stiffly upright. Eventually they moved further offshore but I managed a quick painting of one of the males in flight.
Later where it was calmer, another male posed in brighter light which brought out the iridescence on its head. Ranging from yellowish through purple, deep blue and greenish-black, I tried to capture this in my painting - difficult in watercolor but this study will do for now. Size of each is about 6 x 8 in.
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