Today I watched ducklings that had just leapt from their tree top hollow.
It began a month ago with several pairs of Australian Wood Ducks/Maned Ducks calling from the large Mahogany Gums (Eucalyptus botryoides) at my place. These trees have many hollows and I’m often lucky enough to witness the newly hatched ducklings.
This female was very loud. Her call sounds vaguely like a Laughing Kookaburra that is learning to laugh but doesn’t quite get there. I felt as though she was claiming the hollow she preferred.
She was very clear about it as you can see from the effort she is putting into her call along with her body language! Her tongue was showing on her loudest calls.
I particularly like the background bokeh in the three shots above – those beautiful circles of light that add a kind of mystical quality to the images.
As I had been shooting into the morning sun, I tiptoed around to the other side of the tree. The duck was still calling and the photograph has a very different quality.
Over the next few weeks I would often see (and hear) the male and female as they perched on the tree. The female is on the left, she has softer colouring and white stripes on her face.
And finally I saw both parents on the ground along with two tiny ducklings. One of the little ones is obvious in the photograph above, while the second one is harder to spot.
I hid beneath my fabric hide about twenty-five metres from them but I came back inside when I realised the male had seen me. The female is looking up at the hollow and both parents were calling softly to encourage the rest of the ducklings to take the leap of faith and float to the ground.
I hope so much that the Victorian Labor Government ratifies the recommendation of the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Recreational Shooting of Native Birds. If you get the chance please send a note to Labor MPs and the Premier asking them to honour the recommendation and to implement a permanent ban.
Happy birding, Kim
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You deserve that comparison with Da Vinci, Kim! I don’t think you realise how much joy you are giving us all every week with Lirralirra. You put a great deal of work into it, so the least I can do is tell you how grateful we all are! Lirralirra is life-enhancing.
That is very encouraging Deirdre, very encouraging! Thanks so much 🙂
How absolutely enchanting. Many, many thanks. I particularly like the soft yellows and creams of the females ‘under side’ but adore all of these shots. HOW I hope that the government accepts and implements the results from the enquiry.
My garden is filled with birdsong this morning EC, I hope yours is the same and that you see many ducklings this spring.
It’s great that you are so careful not to disturb these lovely birds. I do love their speckled plumage – and all ducks have such dignity, too! They hold their heads up high, and look so proud and pleased to be ducks – and so they should! I was reading the other day about Leonardo Da Vinci, who, from a young age, would always go to markets and buy caged birds, to release them in front of the outraged bird sellers. It reminded me of you, Kim, and what a noble and kind thing you did, buying and freeing that lonely, caged cockatoo. Being artists, both you and Leonardo have a sensitivity and deep empathy for animals, which is sadly lacking in our troubled, old world. Hooray for the ‘DOBS’! ‘Defenders of Birds’!
Oh Deirdre, your comment left me speechless for a few hours while I contemplated your kindness. There wouldn’t be many people who remember the story of the caged cockatoo. I love the idea of DOBS. I think we are the lucky ones who feel a deep connection with nature, a kind of oneness that means the call of a whipbird (as I’m hearing as I write) can lift our spirits and infuse us with a deep sense of peace, gratitude, blessings… I’m still pondering on the right word for something that feels so fundamentally right that I’m not sure there is a word that adequately explains it. I hope your weekend is filled with wonders, Kim
Aww how beautiful. They are such stunning birds! I adore them and love the images.
Thank you! I wish I’d got to see how many ducklings came down but I didn’t want to disturb them. Hopefully I’ll see them around in the next few days.