Australian Wood Duck - Mapua Nelson.

[SomesBirder]

Today at the Playhouse Ponds, the only ducks that I saw were a pair of paradise shelducks, a female shoveler, and a few mallards. I briefly heard an unfamiliar quacking sound coming from the greenery at the left side of the pond that is further from the Playhouse, which at first was followed by a quiet "cheep". I'm not sure whether that's of any significance.

At Hoddy Estuary Park, I quickly spotted a pair of wood ducks with five very well-grown young on the little lake. They were not approachable at all; dad decided that it was time to take off when I was probably more than 50 metres away from them. Hopefully his children will inherit his vigilant parenting skills.

A bit later, when I went closer to the little lake, I saw two more pairs of wood ducks, neither of which had any offspring with them. That made a total of 11 wood ducks at Hoddy Estuary Park, assuming that neither of those two additional pairs actually had the five offspring hidden somewhere, which seems very unlikely.

Also possibly of note is what I think was an unusual paradise shelduck; an adult male with a lot of white on his face?

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[SomesBirder]

I may have discovered a partial explanation for why the wood ducks have been struggling to increase their numbers at the Playhouse Ponds; there is a purebred cat breeding facility extremely close to where the ponds are, and at least one of the cats is allowed to free-roam.

[sm1979]

Set a trap. Wretched roaming felines!!
I can't understand why cats are so worshipped and given a free ticket to roam wherever, whenever and crap and kill whatever, yet a tiny chihuahua dog less than half the size is subject to strict regulation. And yes I agree with regulation on dogs.

[BerndHuss]

I couldn't agree more with above statement. Why there is a double standart when it comes to dogs/cats is beyond me!

[Michael Szabo]

Has anyone seen how the Wood Ducks are doing recently?

[ourspot]

Has anyone seen how the Wood Ducks are doing recently?

I saw 4 Wood Ducks at the Playhouse Ponds on the 5th December 2021.

[Michael Szabo]

Thanks Scott, that's good to know as they seem to have been getting scarcer there over the past couple of years.

[BerndHuss]

I visited Hoddy's and the Playhouse about 2 weeks ago on my way back from from Motueka. No sign of them at either site. I'll try to have another look this coming weekend.

[georgie]

Still good numbers but not reliable - nothing when I checked Playhouse Ponds Hoddy Estuary and five other local ponds in December, then 17 at Hoddy Estuary on 4th Jan. A pair in the main pond and 15 more feeding on the lawn of the neighbouring property.

[Samsperdy]

Has anyone seen how the Wood Ducks are doing recently?

Yeah I went on January 5th to the Playhouse and Hoddy Estuary saw only 3 at the Playhouse.