One of our larger sized birds with males being about 130cm and females 80cm is what is commonly known in many bush areas as the Plain Turkey. The official name is the Bustard, a name which I am always careful to pronounce correctly.
This bird prefers to live in areas away from human habitation particularly where the bush residents call, open grassy country.
Many of the older generation have told me that there was once large numbers of these stately birds all across the landscape whereas over the years, numbers have gone down significantly.
One day, when I was talking to a friend, he told me that his daughter and her husband had a property and told him that they had a number of paddocks covered in grass. Most afternoons, they had seen a Bustard going across from one paddock, crossing the road which goes into their property and into another grassy field.
After getting their permission, the next afternoon, I parked my car on the roadway that led to their property to wait and hope that the Bustard would head that way. I opened my window so I could stay in the car to take any photos from there. There was no way that the Bustard would come anywhere near if I was out in the open.
The afternoon dragged on and after some considerable time, I was starting to think I was wasting my time. I was thinking of heading for home so I tried to check all round before doing so.
Well away in the paddock, I saw a bustard moving slowly in my direction. Finally he walked right past me through the grass on the other side of the road and I was able to take some photos of him.
