Mother Eider with her newborns

Canon R6
f/4 400mm DO Mk2 at 800mm
f/11
1/800
ISO 2000

I have been photographing the Eiders at the old harbour in my hometown, for the last few days. They nest on a nearby grassy area, and it looks like they have had a successful season so far. The waves in the sea, were a wee bit choppy, for this one, and the chicks were finding it difficult and didn't look too happy, but mother kept them safe... HH. ACR and PS.

Will

Beautiful image Will. I love the water action and the details in duck are nice. I just wish she didn't blend in with the background as much. Not much you could do on that. I think the action of the waves adds to the overall image.TFS

Nice shot Will she looks very pleased with her ducklings, I know I say I don't like bland backgrounds and I like to some features , but in this case I feel the background colours are mimicking the subject so it competes somewhat..... I still like the image though.

Will, such a proud looking mama she is!!

I remember these kelp mounds from other images. Same location?

There's definitely a story told here with the rocky seas. The little ones look to be a bit stirred up. Very delicate processing on them though!

I think you processed it all nicely actually. Very environmental feel although a touch more distance between the subject and land would help.

This is a sweet one though mate, tfs.

Hi Will ... lovely shot of the Eider , always a pleasure to see little ones like these .... very sweet .
One can almost feel the struggle of the little ones in the choppy waters .
Overall the image does look nice in terms of tone, color and contrast ... albeit the BG does not really help here , as it does look very similar to mother Eider . I think dropping the contrast would help to make the subjects stand out a bit more .
The wider comp does work well

Nice one and TFS Andreas

Thanks for the comments guys. Much appreciated.

Yes Brian, same location. A five minute walk from my house

Will