Innisfail, a little over 7000 people, sugar, bananas and rain. Largest town in the Cassowary Coast region. The highest rainfall in Australia is recorded on the summit of Mount Bartle Frere,1,611 metres (5285 feet). Innisfail is not far away and boasts of being the town with the highest rainfall in the country. The sky is blue at the moment.
We have avoided seeing Cassowary on the trip so far. Missed by moments at Lake Eacham according to eye witness accounts, which were enthusiastically forthcoming once my camera and binoculars were evident, and missed out on the north side of the Daintree River where I have had success in the past. We have never failed on the Cassowary Coast. Friends tell me Mission beach but Innisfail is close to Etty Bay and Coquette Point which I have found reliable. (No dogs at Etty Bay).
The photos were taken at Coquette Point and on Cowley Beach Road. Found dad and two chicks at both places. Plus a single individual on Coquette Point Road. It is the male that builds the nest, incubates the eggs and then shepherds the youngsters for about nine months.
Cassowaries are dangerous. They are the heaviest Australian avian and can inflict nasty wounds with their feet. Don’t be carrying a sandwich when you meet one. Don’t set out to feed them (but do drop the sandwich and back off). I have a very long lens and was no where near as close as the photos imply.
bobmcgee 