A friend of mine decided to visit whilst I was living in Papua New Guinea and he had heard about the security issues, so I gave him the promise that I would look after him with the same attention to security that I awarded myself, and that I had a killer program waiting for his 2 week holiday. I promised Smoking Volcanos, the Greatest Sing-Sing Show on the planet, and a wetland where all of the people had been removed and replaced with only animals. He came armed with Camera and Lenses and we filled memory card after memory card after memory card.
We started our journey at Bensbach River, a tiny wandering river on the border of PNG and Indonesia, and in the mighty Western Province. The massive Fly River starts up high in the Star Mountains full of gold and empties into a flat grassland with the occasional pocket of paperbark forest. A PNGean once said to me that God removed the people from Bensbach and left only the animals. He was right, apart from the small family of people at the very isolated villages, it felt like we were the last few people on the planet.
Cruising along in a little flat bottomed Barra boat, we were able to surprise a few creatures that were feeding, dancing, or simply mating on the shore. Here we see a male and female Grus rubicudis or Brolga. They make a great honking sound and perform quite an animated dance. Experts now believe that the dance is not a courtship display but more of something of enjoyment and a display of emotion.
sounds interesting and sounds FUN!! i can just imagine the memory cards you guys went through! gorgeous shot and very interesting looking birds! hope you are doing well!
@kdimagery - It was a pretty amazing fortnight, and luckily, I will share some of the pics with you guys! Oh and I am doing well Kd, good to see you here.
@bobfoto i look forward to seeing more! i know, i am sorry i have gotten so far behind on your stuff! i must say, the end of year two is getting closer and i have found it harder and harder to stay caught up with everyone! i still have lots of yours to go through....shame on me :S
@lbmcshutter - Got some great lens on a Mother Brolga feeding her young at the Hann River Roadhouse a few years ago, got very close on that occasion, but yes, normally very fleeting birds.
Oh and good to see your name here again Megan. :)
@maggiemae - Height is around 5ft tall but the wingspan is around 8ft across. They are quite a character.
@archaeofrog - 4 hours away here, we get a seasonal migration of Sarus Cranes, very similar to these Brolgas, and there is a count each year. They number in their 1,000s which is a good thing. I believe their numbers are on the increase too.
@tigerdreamer - Oh I think we've known that for some time now... although the science community still believes there must be a reason behind certain animal behaviours.
What great looking birds. And what luck to come upon them so. I can't seem to get close to anything around here that doesn't quack and get fed bread crumbs by children. :)
@agentzuckerguss - A little secret, these birds were looking at the Wallaby I have posted a photo of. I do have one photo of the two birds and the wallaby, but I liked these individual shots instead.
@hellcat - We went to the village of Wando and there was a domesticated Brolga in someone's garden, when he/she saw us coming, the Brolga danced for us.... it did feel a little threatening as it was taller than me.
Oh and good to see your name here again Megan. :)
@maggiemae - Height is around 5ft tall but the wingspan is around 8ft across. They are quite a character.
@kjarn - Thanks KathyA :)
@tonydebont - It was a pretty amazing part of PNG Tony.
@lyno - and who wouldn't be?
@archaeofrog - 4 hours away here, we get a seasonal migration of Sarus Cranes, very similar to these Brolgas, and there is a count each year. They number in their 1,000s which is a good thing. I believe their numbers are on the increase too.
@tigerdreamer - Oh I think we've known that for some time now... although the science community still believes there must be a reason behind certain animal behaviours.
@swilde - Thanks Sue.
@filsie65 @alia_801 @turning_40 - My friend has an awesome holiday! He loved every bit of it, except for the killer bees...
@houdiniem - Thank you Emily :)
@peterdegraaff - Cheers Peter!