Great Northern Diver. 

Original Watercolour on Board. Signed and dated lower left 1926. In a glazed gilt frame. 205 x 290mm.

A Superb Original Watercolour for Plate 184 in Thorburn’s work ‘British Birds’

The Great Northern Diver is a large water bird, which is mostly a winter visitor to the UK. Great northern divers breed in Greenland, Iceland and North America, where they’re called Common Loons. There have been occasional records of them breeding in Scotland, but these are very rare.
They breed on large woodland lakes or pools on tundra, with the male and female working together to build the nest on an island or shoreline. They’re excellent swimmers, using their large feet to chase after small fish under the water.

Great Northern Divers usually spend the winter on the sea, favouring shallow areas close to shore. They can sometimes be seen migrating along the coast singly or in small flocks. Divers look a little bit like cormorants, swimming with their large bodies low in the water and their long neck held upright. The great northern diver is a hefty bird, with a thick neck and a large, heavy bill.

Provenance: Scott Kelly – Edinburgh & Cairngorms. Friend of Thorburn & Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott.