Drake Green-winged Teal paddling by – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Yesterday morning I was able to take close up photos of a drake Green-winged Teal paddling away from me at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I’ve found Green-winged Teals to be very skittish ducks and that is probably why I don’t have many photos of them in my galleries.
Sadly I suspect that the reason why this drake Green-winged Teal opted to paddle away instead taking flight is that he was injured. It is hunting season at the refuge and there are times when ducks are injured during the hunting season that get away from the hunters and their dogs.
I’m not trying to provoke a hate session between hunters and birdwatchers/bird photographers and I hope that no one will attack the hunters here. These are not trophy hunters, they are hunting to provide food for their families. My ancestors including my father, step-father, uncles, and grandfathers were hunters and nature lovers. I can’t and won’t attack them for putting food on the table.
I don’t hunt, I don’t have the stomach for it so when I say I am going shooting or that I am out shooting I mean I am shooting my camera.
I don’t like seeing injured birds yet I also know that hunters don’t like that they injured birds that they weren’t able to retrieve for what ever reason.
Deceased drake Green-winged Teal floating in the marsh
Injured hen Green-winged Teal
During the hunting season birdwatchers and bird photographers can and will see injured and dead ducks at the refuge.
I took these photos of a dead drake and injured hen Green-winged Teal yesterday and have posted them as small images that can be clicked to view larger if you want to. The hen Green-winged Teal has damage to her right wing. Those feathers may grow back in time, she may survive being wing shot. She was on the other side off a canal at the refuge and was able to swim so there was no way I could capture and rescue her.
It is hard for me to see injured birds that I can’t help.
Flock of Green-winged Teal in flight over a marsh – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I know it can be a touchy subject but birdwatchers, bird photographers and hunters have more in common than we might think or even admit.
We all want to clean air and water so that wildlife, birds and humans survive. We all want open spaces where birds can thrive.
Mia
(The photo of the Green-winged Teals in flight was taken in March of 2018)
Click here to see more of my Green-winged Teal photos plus facts and information about this species.
It’s all there…colors composition and detail. Beautiful pics. Thanks Mia.
Oh my goodness! I am loving the colors! What a beautiful duck!
Finding the walking wounded is always a hard part about hunting season. I try to look at it that it will provide food for other raptors.
I hope that you are wrong about the first teal’s injury status. I hope it so much.
Hunting for food I am fine with. Recreational hunting I am emphatically not in favour of.
I saw my first Green-winged Teal this fall when it stopped over at a local pond during migration. They are so beautiful. It is “trophy hunters” I abhor, not hunters who hunt for the meat.
I just recently found you and your website. My first post from you and it’s a perfect connection with who I am and where I came from. If it wasn’t for holding a blue-winged teal in my hand from my first ever harvest I would have never fallen in love with ducks in general. The love led to a lifelong passion for experiencing as much as I can with any feathered critter. Now with camera and gun in hand I can enjoy my passion year around. My background as a biologist facilitates my acceptance of hunting as a tool for the management of wild game.