Flowing on from the previous post of last Wednesday’s walk around the pond at Edgewater/Maribyrnong Wetlands, I thought to share a few more images of the pair of Khaki Campbell ducks that live in the area.
I have to be honest and say I’d never heard of these domestic ducks and it took me a while to put name to bird when I first saw them in January, 2017. They have that heavy dabbling beak like our Northern, or Australasian, Shoveler.
They come in 3 colour varieties: khaki, dark and white. They are a cross between Mallard, Rouen and Runner ducks. The male (drake) Khaki Campbell is mostly khaki coloured with a darker head usually olive green.
They’re supposed to be gentle, passive and a very friendly breed when raised by hand and since spotting them, I often wonder where the local pair came from – pets, country farm or the wild (descended from some ducks bought out by some English migrants to the area in the 20th century.
After all they come from Gloucestershire in England.
GOING BY THE DATE OF THE SHOT, THIS JUVENILE FEMALE AUSTRALIAN WOOD DUCK MUST HAVE BEEN ON THE MARIBYRNONG RIVERA YOUNG MALE AUSTRALIAN WOOD DUCK – RINGWOOD LAKE, RINGWOOD (AN OUTER EASTERN SUBURB OF MELBOURNE WHERE I WAS BORN……ehrr IN A SMALL PRIVATE HOSPITAL (now demolished and replaced with a massive shopping centre), NOT IN THE LAKE.
The long neck and upright posture gives the duck the appearance of a small goose. The male has a brown head with substantial drooping crest, chestnut-speckled grey breast, grey body and black rump, tail and under tail coverts.
ORNAMENTAL LAKE, ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, MELBOURNEJUVENILE FEMALE AUSTRALIAN WOOD DUCK – TREASURY GARDENS, MELBOURNE
The female has distinctive stripes above and below the eye on a brown head.
NOT MUCH WATER LEFT IN THE MARIBYRNONG WETLANDS AT THE END OF SUMMER, 2017.THIS FEMALE WAS CLEARLY INTENT ON SCARING ME OFF WHEN I GOT TOO CLOSE TO HER LARGE BROOD OF DUCKLINGS.THIS SHOT FROM THE TREASURY GARDENS IN MELBOURNE CLEARLY SHOWS THE DUCKLINGS HAVE THE STRIPE ABOVE AND BELOW THE EYE, DENOTING FEMALES.
I haven’t followed this up, but every tiny duckling I’ve ever seen, (and I’ve seen and/or photographed many), seems to have the stripe up and below the eye. So I’m not sure whether all ducklings have this and the males head feathers change to all-brown as they grow OR, I’ve only ever seen female ducklings 🙂
I ASSUME THIS IS A TEENAGER ABOUT TO SHED ALL ITS SOFT DOWNY FEATHERS. THIS IS ONE VERY UGLY DUCKLING.MORE TEENAGERS IN THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, MELBOURNE
I WAS WALKING TO NEWELLS PADDOCK NATURE RESERVE WHEN I SPOTTED THESE TWO DUCKS SITTING ON A WOODEN JETTY ON THE MARIBYRNONG RIVER
One of the most common ducks I see in public parks, gardens, on lakes, rivers and nature reserves is the Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa) and the image above, made at Ringwood Lake, in the outer eastern suburb of Ringwood where I was born, is my favourite image. It’s not necessarily the best shot in my Photo Library – I just love the natural setting.
Here’s a few more of the many images I’ve made over the years, since I’ve been photographing Birds.
PACIFIC BLACK DUCK – RINGWOOD LAKE, RINGWOOD (outer eastern suburb of Melbourne). This Lake was an excursion when we were very small children as it had a playground and swings. Nowadays, it has more formal landscaping, a bridge and little sun shelter shed in the middle of the lake.PACIFIC BLACK DUCK fast asleep next to NYMPHAEA LAKE, ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, MELBOURNENot a good shot per se, as the head & eye is out of focus, but I love this photo as it shows the colours beneath its wings. NYMPHAEA LAKE, ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, MELBOURNEPACIFIC BLACK DUCK – ORNAMENTAL LAKE, ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS. This image is one of only a few where I had the long 150-500 telephoto lens on a tripod. I don’t think I had a remote shutter release cable back in those days, or even if I remembered to turn the image stabilising switch off (as you do when using a tripod).PACIFIC BLACK DUCK – ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, MELBOURNEI was crouching low on the ground to take this photo and was so intent on getting the focal point on the eye, I accidentally chopped off the bird’s feet from the image, but I like the photo all the same as it reminds me of the fun I had crouching down so the duck wouldn’t see me. JUST BELOW DIGHTS FALLS ON THE YARRA RIVER, ABBOTSFORD (an inner north-eastern suburb of Melbourne).Not a great photo per se, but I saw this female PACIFIC BLACK DUCK (with her 12 ducklings – not all in the frame) down a slope near a bank of THE ORNAMENTAL LAKE, ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, MELBOURNE
The Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne are actually located in the inner south-east suburb of SOUTH YARRA (where I used to live on/off for about 25 years). I WORKED across the road from THE HERBARIUM on the south-west corner of the Royal Botanic Gardens for 16 1/2 years, so my 15 minute walk to my office was often made through the RBG (and even around the whole 38 hectare site after work).
As I have often said on my various photo blogs, I’ve probably walked through, or around the Royal Botanic Gardens, somewhere between 8,000-10,000 times and know the Gardens intimately. This estimation is no exaggeration. If I was blindfolded and led around its many pathways, I could probably tell you exactly where we were by the flower and/or leaf scent alone.
It would be both interesting and great fun to see all the landscaping changes since I moved away from the area in April 2015. There is just so much to see throughout the seasons in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, but as to the right time of year to visit, I suppose it must be Spring – the first 2 weeks in September, although the Perennial Border is re-furbished so that the flowers and colours are at their best in around mid-January (as shown in the image below which covers about 1/4 of the Perennial Border’s floral display). The old restored buildings below are now Function Rooms and host to many weddings, large dinners and parties.
