Dancing Dinosaur

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