I photographed this female Common Eider on the morning of August 9 during my Deluxe Puffins Galore Lighthouse Island Adventure Workshop in Quebec. I couldn’t help but think about the close association with Northumberland (North East England) that the bird and I share (Why aye, man, I am a Geordie originally from Whitley Bay).

Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop, and hermit widely regarded as Northumbria's patron saint. While his life and legacy are associated with many miracles and religious practices, one of his most notable contributions was the creation of one of the first bird protection laws in history.

The common eider, a large sea duck found along the northern coasts of Europe, North America, and eastern Siberia, has interested humans for centuries. A famous colony of eiders lives on the Farne Islands in Northumberland, England, where Saint Cuthbert established a law protecting the birds in 676.

Legend has it that Saint Cuthbert was captivated by the eiders’ beauty and the value of their down feathers. He recognized the need to protect them from overhunting and established a law forbidding the taking of the birds and their eggs from the Farne Islands. This law is considered one of the earliest recorded instances of bird protection in history.