Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I shall never forget my first encounter with the Australian Brush Turkey (Alectura lathami)
They are a strange looking bird, appearing to have been made from pieces of other animals!

They have the body of a Black Swan, the vibrant colours of a parrot, the kneck and wattle of a turkey, the bald head and the beak of a vulture and a strange vertical fan of tail feathers tail resembling a Shark's tail

I met this fellow in woods near Barron Falls, near Cairns, Queensland, Australia and spent some quality time in his company until he wandered into a pool of light into the undergrowth, when I took this shot
They make huge mounds of earth and vegetation upt o 4ft high and 13ft across and the male controls the size to maintain incubation temperature

A truly fascinating bird!

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/jpe_bennett/9​664032162/

That is quite the detailed description. Would love to have seen more photos of him.

SJC from VT wrote in post #16263831
That is quite the detailed description. Would love to have seen more photos of him.

Many thanks, SJC

I am still wading through all the shots of the trip and I am sure that I can pull some more out in due course!

Thanks again

Interesting bird for sure. Quite the color selection! Would love to see some more.

Grizz wrote in post #16263988
Interesting bird for sure. Quite the color selection! Would love to see some more.

Much appreciated, Grizz

I shall put more stuff up soon

Gorgeous colors!

Flo wrote in post #16264177
Gorgeous colors!

Thanks Flo!

Very interesting bird, really liked your description... Mother Nature is truly fascinating.. I too would love to see more...

CMOats wrote in post #16265736
Very interesting bird, really liked your description... Mother Nature is truly fascinating.. I too would love to see more...

Thanks Cheryl, I have a fair few more of this and other birds from my trip to share

Nice one James. I can fully understand your wait as I've yet to see one out in the light (when I have a camera handy) and it's a hard ask to get a decent shot in the rainforest


You weren't up there recently were you, and stopped to talk to a pommy old fart (out of wind) and his son, on the track at Barron falls?...............d​uring the Lion's Tour?

We talked to 3 other folk on the track, carrying Canon gear and strangely enough, they were all from the UK up for the tour, and Cairns and Brizzy was also full of them.............reces​sion? what recession?

bidkev wrote in post #16266439
Nice one James. I can fully understand your wait as I've yet to see one out in the light (when I have a camera handy) and it's a hard ask to get a decent shot in the rainforest


You weren't up there recently were you, and stopped to talk to a pommy old fart (out of wind) and his son, on the track at Barron falls?...............d​uring the Lion's Tour?

We talked to 3 other folk on the track, carrying Canon gear and strangely enough, they were all from the UK up for the tour, and Cairns and Brizzy was also full of them.............reces​sion? what recession?

Cheers Kevin, not me I took this on 7th August, near the beginning of my trip, and, indeed, just off the track at Barron Falls. Fantastic area and not at all easy to shoot without flash! Just checked out your fish on Flickr..........lovely