Opportunity of a lifetime

We have the opportunity of a lifetime and it’s pretty exciting! Let’s join together and make it happen.

Pink-eared Ducks are tiny, exquisite and unique. I love watching them as they glide across the water, occasionally upending themselves to feed on algae, crustaceans and insects. Their silver bills are a masterpiece of design with fine grooves, lameliae, that filter microscopic plants and animals from the water. They have a beautiful call that is a melodic kind of chirruping, not at all the sound we imagine from a duck. And can you spot the name-giving dab of pink behind its eye?

This female Chestnut Teal was gliding on the pond just a few metres from the pinky. I like the way she seems to be quietly gazing at the reflections in the water. Female and young chestnuts look quite like Grey Teal but they are slightly darker and their throats aren’t as white.

This curious Pacific Black Duckling came so close as I was hunkered down at the edge of the pond that it was too close for my minimum focus distance. I had to wait for it to paddle through the azolla fern before I could focus on its eye. Every time it dabbled for food it bobbed back up with tiny azolla ferns on its head and bill.

These native ducks, along with four other native species (Australian Shelduck, Australian Wood Duck, Grey Teal and Stubble Quail) will be the target of recreational shooters from 26 April – 30 May 2023. Hundreds of thousands of birds will be shot, about quarter of them will be injured and left to die. Other species, including protected and endangered, will also be shot. It happens every year. The tranquility of the wetlands, for all species, will be shattered. It is cruel, unnecessary and unsustainable. BUT there is some seriously good news: the Labor government has passed a motion to establish a Legislative Council Select Committee to examine recreational duck shooting in Victoria. There is a very real chance that recreational duck shooting will be permanently banned in Victoria (as it is in NSW, WA, Qld and the ACT).

We have the opportunity of a lifetime – ours and the birds. All we need to do is to send an email sharing our concerns about shooting native ducks and quail – you do not need to be a Victorian resident. Just say in your own heartfelt words how you feel about the cruelty, the lack of sustainability and maybe your preference for nature-based tourism to be promoted. Your email doesn’t have to be long, in fact they request that we are ‘brief and clear’.

Duck shooters are getting international support from shooters so I urge you to encourage your friends and family, everyone you know, to write a few paragraphs – together we can win this.

I hope this will be the last year I photograph dead and dying birds – please send your email before 11:59pm on 8 May 2023 to nativebirdhunting@parliament.vic.gov.au

Thank you, Kim

NB More information about duck shooting is available by searching lirralirra, or by visiting these websites: Coalition Against Duck Shooting, Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting, Birdlife Australia, Animals Australia, AJP Victoria (including specific information for submissions), RSPCA, Wildlife Victoria

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