Saturday, December 4, 2010

Dancing Dinosaur

Wild Cassowary on the Beach

After two weeks of chasing these giant birds through the dense tropical 
rainforest, I moved today to a new location – a place where, I was told, 
wild Cassowaries walk the beach.  It seemed like a long shot, but I 
gave it a try, and set up a vigil on the beach in the late afternoon – 
not feeling very optimistic.  But little over an hour after I arrived a 
Cassowary emerged from the forest lining the beach and walked right 
past me. 
I was so stunned, I dropped all my camera gear into the sand out of 
my unzipped backpack. A few choice words were spoken – as you 
can imagine – and then I took off down the beach.
It was like a scene out of Jurassic Park: a giant primitive bird 
walking along a narrow beach backed by dense rainforest. I couldn’t 
believe my luck. I tried a variety of angles, backgrounds, lenses, 
close-ups and more environmental shots – anything I could think of, 
knowing my time with him could be brief.
This is only one of my favorites from an exhilarating hour spent with a 
feathered dinosaur. I’ll be back there at sunrise tomorrow!
Nikon D3, 24-70mm lens

5 comments:

  1. Wow Kevin, very cool!! Been enjoying catching up with your week and the waterfall frogs, too.

    Amazing shot. :-)

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  2. Thanks Chandira. Sometimes luck is a big part of this. Went back this morning before sunrise for 4 hours - and never saw a bird. Oh well : I may try again later this week before I head home. Thanks for staying in touch.

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  3. what a beautiful sight,
    "A few choice words were spoken" - they automatically come out when u see a sight like this :)

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  4. Dear Manjeet & Yograj,

    Thanks. I have been back twice now since I took that picture and never seen anything like it. An important lesson - never wait to take a picture...

    I enjoy looking at your website - some wonderful pictures!

    Kevin

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  5. Thanks a lot for sharing your lessons and appreciation, sir.

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