Talking Turkey

I have to admit this shot is a bit of a cop-out on my part. Brush (or Scrub) Turkeys roam the streets and gardens on Brisbane. They are wild creatures and are usually found scavenging for food in people's gardens. When I first moved here I couldn't believe these big birds were just wandering around the suburban streets. Last year I got the idea for a photo of one crossing the road which is a fairly common occurence ... and the title of the blog post being "why did the brush turkey cross the road?" with the answer being something like..."because there were some gardens on the other side that it hadn't ruined yet". I have been stalking these scrawny things with my camera for the best part of a year but they sense you near them and they just run around all over the place, often into the middle of the road. Sometimes they can't make up their mind what they're doing and go side to side trying desperately to get out of your way. I promise you I haven't gone out to traumatise them - they're just not very bright. Anyway, the numerous resulting photos are pretty bad. Nothing is in focus because I've been doing it in low(ish) light in the mornings and of course because I've got an erratically moving target. On the weekend, I was sitting in my back garden when one hopped on the fence. It sat eyeing me warily and kept a mindful distance until the neighbour's kids came out to play on the other side. You could see the indecision and panic rising. It got up and started pacing a up and down the length of the fence. getting dangerously close to me... which is when I snapped it. Sorry, no suburban street context. No crossing-the-road gag. This is about as good as it gets for me. I'm copping out.

When it could take no more, mustering up some primal urge, it flapped its ragged wings furiously and threw itself into the lowest bough of a nearby tree.

If you like turkeys, read a turkey poem by Benjamin Zephaniah here.

Oh and by the way.... Happy Australia Day!