The word pacific means peaceful in intent or character, calm, tranquil, non-violent. None of these words describe what has taken place on Victorian wetlands over the past eight weeks but they do describe the nature of our native ducks. The 2024 duck shooting season has finally finished, so this week I’m sharing three Pacific Black Duck photographs that I recently took of blackies in safer places.
1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 1600
Canon R5, Canon RF 600 f/4 L IS USM
One of my favourite photography opportunities is photographing birds as they contentedly preen themselves. Not only do I know they are comfortable with my presence but I also get to capture their plumage looking especially beautiful. In the photograph above I especially love the way the soft pastels of the background complement the duck’s ruffled feathers.
1/1250, f/8, ISO 1600
Canon R5, Canon RF 600 f/4 L IS USM
Pacific Black Ducks have iridescent feathers on their wings, called a speculum. These appear purple, blue or green depending on the way the light is reaching them. Their necks are incredibly supple.
1/1250, f/8, ISO 2500
Canon R5, Canon RF 600 f/4 L IS USM
I was watching this duck preen when it looked straight at me, somehow making me feel extra responsible for the carnage on the wetlands. I am absolutely devastated that the Victorian Labor Government choose to ignore the findings of their own Parliamentary Inquiry and permit a 2024 duck shooting season. Every day for the past eight weeks duck shooters were permitted to kill six ‘game’ birds. During this time the suffering on the wetlands is intense; birds are killed, injured and terrified. Official figures acknowledge a wounding rate of up to 30% which is why the work done by the Coalition Against Duck Shooting (and other) rescuers is so vital. Every year these wonderful people search the wetlands for birds that have been injured and left to die lingering deaths among the reeds. In the first few days of the shooting season, at one lake, the vets from Wildlife Victoria euthanised twenty-two birds that were too seriously injured to survive. Imagine the suffering across the many thousands of wetlands where shooters were firing shotguns in the general direction of flocks of native ducks.
This year the Game Management Authority have booked about twenty rescuers, including handcuffing at least two of them. These are rescuers, not shooters. It beggars belief.
I know many of you have written to politicians, or made a submission to the inquiry, and I thank you all, including everyone who cares about the sickening horrors of recreational native bird shooting. Hopefully it will soon be consigned to history, as it has been in other states, and our wetlands will be calm, tranquil and non-violent.
Happy birding, Kim
PS Hi Duck-lovin’ Kid, I hope this week’s post landed in time for you and that you like the blackie images.
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I’m writing from NSW. I’m a casual hobbyist photographer, one of my favourite subjects is birds.
This morning in a small nature reserve I took my first photos of wood ducks perched up on gumtree branches. Oddly enough, this was the first time I came across such a thing – I was enthralled by them and their morning calls through the fog.
Well, reading about our native ducks, I’ve now stumbled upon this terrible fact that they’re shot at. The number of ‘harvests’ published on our DPI site shows an explosion in the numbers killed, from hundreds, to now thousands upon thousands – and that’s just ‘official’ counts.
Something is terribly wrong and rotten. These animals should be admired, not considered a ‘sport’.
Hi Matt, the wood ducks have just started calling from my trees which means they are starting to think about which hollows to use for their nests. I’ve been lucky enough to watch the ducklings flutter-float their way down, which never fails to enthral me. In Victoria the shooting can take hundreds of thousands of ducks in a season. It’s devastating. I’ve written many posts about it, including the Season of Shame posts and another with a harrowing tale from a rescuer who was at an opening massacre. It really is horrendous that such cruelty is permitted. NSW banned it many years ago, as did the ACT, Qld and WA. I hope Victoria, SA, NT and Tassie will follow soon. In the meantime I hope you get some wonderful shots of your wood ducks that are lucky enough to live in NSW.
Yes, the wood ducks are starting to nest in my area too. One time, on the way to Arts Centre Melbourne for a kids workshop, I saw two pairs of wood ducks calling from their chosen hollows. The two pairs were in trees next to each other. Very sweet to see the anatine (recently learnt word meaning related to ducks) neighbours. Coming back home from another workshop, we passed several wood ducks grazing on the lawns and nature strips and taking a break from nesting. We passed (in this order) a lone male, a small flock of three or four pairs, and a pair close to the edge of the road, on a nature strip. They weren’t at all bothered by my dad’s Toyota as it passed by, they just looked up. The lone male puzzles me though, as by this time, most wood ducks would have found a partner by now. Maybe the female was hiding. Maybe he hasn’t found a mate yet. Maybe she was still in the hollow. I seriously hope she’s okay. Other than the lone male mystery, though, seeing the nesting wood ducks was, in complete contrast to the horrors of duck shooting, delightful.
I’d just sat down at the computer, after asking my daughter what species I should highlight tonight, when I saw your message. Such a coincidence as she had just said wood ducks! I’m wondering what time of year it was that you saw all that wonderful wood duck activity. In the past couple of weeks they’ve started calling at my place as they do their annual hunt for hollows. Hopefully the lone male was on guard for a female in a hollow, or maybe she was less obvious in the tree. I usually see two together but it’s not uncommon to see just one. I agree with you entirely about seeing something so delightful.
The behaviour of certain politicians has been utterly disgraceful, as has the blatantly corrupt GMA. Thank you for continuing to highlight this issue, and the beauty of these native waterbirds as they should be – alive and at peace.
It beggars belief doesn’t it that such a overwhelming majority of Victorians want it banned, that commonsense and decency need it banned, and yet there was another desperately sad season.
Thankfully this year’s is over
Yes, yes, a million times yes. I added a PS for you as I managed to publish the post before 9pm, then wondered which time zone you’re in…
Love all the photographs, but the second one really captivates me. Oh, to have that neck flexibility. I bet they don’t need to do neck exercises every day!
Now you have made me imagine a bevy of ducks spending an hour each week with #Tamsinteachesyoga
How I love these gorgeous images.
And how I mourn (and fume) about the absurd and obscene decision to allow this slaughter.
It is 100% absurd and obscene. Our native birds (and the rescuers) deserve so much more.