A couple of dozen super cute ducklings and cygnets to make us smile as we wait to hear if the Victorian Government will honour Parliamentary Inquiry’s recommendation to ban the recreational shooting of native birds, or if they will support local and international shooters, and the unions, and permit tax-payer-funded death and destruction to continue on our wetlands.
It’s so lovely to watch these tiny fluff balls move so quickly through the silky waters. I can’t help but imagine how speedily those tiny feet are paddling.
And seeing a newly hatched duckling checking out ‘interesting’ things in its environment is pretty funny to watch.
Sometimes it takes them a while to work out what is and isn’t edible!
Australian Wood Ducks/Maned Ducks nest in a hollow in one of the huge Mahogany Gums at my place. Watching the parent birds encouraging the ducklings to leap from the safety of their cosy nest is an incredibly moving sight.
There is definitely something anthropomorphic about watching parent ducks as they keep track of their ducklings.
The expression on this duckling’s face makes me wonder what curiosity it has spotted!
This is a pretty rotten photograph as I hadn’t realised there was a little one hitching a ride when I focused on the mumma duck and the other ducklings.
Adult ducks often rise out of the water and flap their wings, which is exactly what this newly hatched blackie was doing, only it wings were too tiny to look impressive.
This is one of a series of shots I took of a newly hatched duckling as it spun around and around in the water. I’ve included a face-on capture in this year’s diary, it’s a shot that astounds me as the duckling was moving so quickly. Even in this shot you can see the vortex effect from it paddling in a circle.
I still smile at the memory of this sight. There is something serene about black swans and cygnets. Although they are not a ‘game’ species they are often shot on the wetlands, or disturbed by the horrendous noise made by shotguns. Sadly many swans abandon their nests during shooting seasons. It makes my heart cry.
I feel like these little beauties posed for me to take a family photograph.
I remember lying on a pebbly bank to photograph this cygnet. They are such a graceful species.
This sweet duckling came so close, as I was stretched out on the bank, that I couldn’t get all of it in the frame. It seemed to be looking at me as though I was a strange curiosity, maybe I am!
My photographs are often used by organisations striving to highlight the cruel truth about recreational duck shooting; including the Coalition Against Duck Shooting, and Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting. I hope that today’s images will inspire you to send a quick note to the politicians who will soon make a decision regarding recreational duck shooting. Will they ban it as overwhelmingly urged by most Victorians? Will they kowtow to unions (who are threatening to strike), international big game hunters (who should have nothing to do with it) and the tiny minority of men (mostly men) who like to blast hundreds of pellets in the general direction of our native birds? I have written many posts about the horrors of duck shooting, some of which are in the right-hand sidebar under ‘favourites’ while others can be found by searching.
I urge you to send a heartfelt note to these two addressees to uphold the Inquiry’s recommendation and permanently ban recreational duck shooting in Victoria: jacinta.allan@parliament.vic.gov.au and steve.dimopoulos@parliament.vic.gov.au. I can’t bear the thought of being on the wetlands again with the noise of the guns and the flapping of injured birds… please help.
Thank you, and happy birding, Kim
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Funny thing is, people used to (and sometimes still do!) think woodies are geese!
They are a fascinating species for sure, the only living members of their genus, and often called Maned Goose (as well as Australian Wood Duck and now, Maned Duck – which I’m sure you already know!). Partly because they spend a lot of time grazing on grass like geese, and not as much time in the water as many ducks
. Fabulous birds whatever they are called 🙂
Just wondering when your next post will be?
I’ve just hit ‘publish’ D-LK 🙂
Such heart-wrenching photos in light of Labor’s likely about-face on the ban. Have emailed my state MP plus Premier and MP Dimopoulos. Thank you for the prompt Kim.
Thank you so much Fiona. With tonight’s devastating news there are more politicians to write to if you would. I’ll list them here in the hopes that you and others will have time to write before 3pm Monday 29th. Just cut and paste the addresses
ben.carroll@minstaff.vic.gov.au, mary-anne.thomas@minstaff.vic.gov.au, danny.pearson@minstaff.vic.gov.au, jaclyn.symes@minstaff.vic.gov.au, lily.dambrosio@minstaff.vic.gov.au, steve.dimopoulos@minstaff.vic.gov.au, anthony.carbines@minstaff.vic.gov.au, colin.brooks@minstaff.vic.gov.au, enver.erdogan@minstaff.vic.gov.au, gayle.tierney@minstaff.vic.gov.au, lizzie.blandthorn@minstaff.vic.gov.au, jacinta.allan@minstaff.vic.gov.au, harriet.shing@minstaff.vic.gov.au, sonya.kilkenny@minstaff.vic.gov.au, natalie.hutchins@minstaff.vic.gov.au, Melissa.Horne@minstaff.vic.gov.au, tim.pallas@minstaff.vic.gov.au, ros.spence@minstaff.vic.gov.au, gabrielle.williams@minstaff.vic.gov.au, Ingrid.Stitt@minstaff.vic.gov.au, natalie.suleyman@minstaff.vic.gov.au, vicki.ward@minstaff.vic.gov.au
These are sensational photos Kim!! I’m going to write to those emails and say what a disgrace it will be if they don’t put a stop to the duck hunters out there ravaging the peace.
Thanks so much Tess, for your kind comment and even more for writing to the politicians.
I didn’t realise that, Kim – that really is vile, to shoot just for kicks. I naively thought these hunters were killing for a source of protein – at least, from the testimonials I’ve read, that’s what they all claim – that it’s a family tradition to cook the meat for their families. But from the evidence of your own eyes, it seems that is a farce and a vicious lie. Such sadism is shocking. If they want to test their shooting skills – that is, how accurate they are at firing their hideous guns, then why not just go to a firing range, far away from wildlife, and shoot clay pigeons into the air? I seriously think this is nothing but testosterone fueled barbarism (in a small percentage of men)- and it must be a kind of mental illness, to enjoy destroying innocent life. Now I can feel my blood pressure rising with fury – so, on a more pleasant note – I do love your photos today of Pacific Black ducks – I have a real fondness for them, because there is a flock of them at my local lake, and they always come waddling towards me, for a feed of rolled oats. They appear at first to be such frumpy, rather dowdy birds, in their feather colouring – just brown and beige, and then, suddenly, they flap their wings, and you see a flash of brilliant metallic teal green, which even more astonishing, when viewed from another angle, appears to magically become a flash of glorious purple. I know once you told me about feather colouring on birds as a camouflage rather than decoration – but i can’t see any reason for this divine colouration hidden beneath the Blacky’s wings – can you? I’d like to hear the scientific explanation for it, but i fear it might just stifle the artistic joy I feel, looking at that teal flash!
The amount of gratuitous killing during duck shooting season is horrendous Deirdre. I read 100s of the submissions made to the Parliamentary Inquiry and the words and photographs of rescuers, vets and regional residents are just heart-wrenching. And we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of birds killed. It makes me feel physically sick just thinking about it.
But on your more pleasant note, I’m glad you like the Pacific Black Ducks. A shot I took of a blackie, showing its speculum has just been used by Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting. The ‘divine colouration’ really is beautiful. I believe the jury is out on the purpose of the colouring. It was believed to be related to breeding but when mallards had the speculum colours removed it made no difference to their mating success. It is created by nanostructures in the feathers themselves, rather than a pigment, which explains the differing hues.
All of your duck and swan photos make my weary heart sing, Kim – and it never fails to delight me when I see a mumma swan carrying her cygnets on her back – what a joy, when I see this – rarely – on Port Phillip bay! An old fella I knew once, told me that the only reason hunters don’t deliberately shoot black swans, is because their meat is tough as old boots, and tastes terrible – a relief for the swans, and if only all ducks tasted so foul, we would not have this appalling slaughter. We can only hope the new Premier of Victoria has the courage to declare that a civilized society will not tolerate this mindless carnage. I have a strong feeling that we will win this battle. We cannot allow the bogan butchers crazed by blood lust, to triumph.
I wish I had your confidence about the decision Deirdre. It seems to be wavering, a lot. And the shooters don’t shoot the swans to eat but just because they feel like shooting them. I’ve even photographed shot pelicans and raptors, along with coots and cormorants, and plenty of other sad sights. Some of the ‘game’ birds they shoot are abandoned if they manage to shoot something tastier, which is illegal but happens every single season.
Done! And one to my local member Jackson Taylor for good measure.
Millions of thank yous Noel, to add to all the other thank yous!
Heart melters one and all.
I will happily write to ask/plea for recreational hunting to be banned.
Thanks so much EC. Every letter helps. It’s unfathomable that it’s such a battle for something so obvious.
Such a beautiful selection of shots of these gorgeous native waterbirds. Let’s hope this is finally the year they become truly protected. I’ve sent an email to the ministers and my local lower and upper house representatives. Fingers crossed.
I truly appreciate you finding time to do that Alyssa when I know how busy you are with everything you do xo