25th May 2019

Last weekend I was in Townsville visiting customers. As you drive along the Bruce Highway you are presently treated to beautiful views of the flowering sugar cane.

Between Tully and Cardwell you will see a turn off to Murray Falls. It is a short drive off the path and is a beautiful spot that has a camping area.

As you can also see from the photos it is still often overcast and rainy here in North Queensland. After a short visit we declared we would visit another day and headed back to the car park to resume our trip to Townsville.

First time we see a Cassowary in the wild

When I go somewhere specifically to take photos of one thing I often end up taking photos of another. As we started to leave the carpark a Cassowary was arriving.

My wife had never seen one in the wild so out of the car she hopped to try and get a not too close….. closer look. There are a few things my wife knows about the Cassowary:

1. They are desended from dinosaurs

2. They use their casque and claws for defence

3. They attack up to 200 people every year

What my wife did not know is that they usually will not attack without a reason. With no chicks in sight, us not attempting to feed (or holding food), nor threatening the bird or getting too close we were pretty safe.

All of these photos I have taken with a 300mm telephoto lens from some distance away.

The Cassowary had other ideas about getting close. Seeing the bird coming in our direction my wife told me she was going back to the car and quickly retreated.

The bird slowly walked straight past me and headed for the car. Upon arriving at the car it stood at my wife`s window for a minute or so staring at her before moving on.