A recent trip to Cape York to hopefully film behavior of the great Palm Cockatoo was a dream come true. The excitement of embarking on a new venture has always given me that special drive to put one hundred and ten percent into every opportunity I get to work on our special wildlife. Because one just never knows how fragile things are until one lives within and shares their space.

You see, for me as a wild life camera man, sharing the private space from within the constraints of a hide and being close enough to reach and touch that magical creature, what ever it might be, which normally can only be viewed through a high powered lens is just like living in another world.

On Cape York in the vicinity of Iron Range National Park on the third day I was treated to the discovery of a Palm Cockatoo’s nest which I assumed had a chick in it. Steve Murphy a friend of mine, was doing his PHD on this magical creature, and knew the behavior of Palm Cockatoo’s such as no other so his knowledge was valuable in the pursuit of filming behavior.

At 4.30am fully laden with camera and a high powered lens, I was blundering around in the dark working my way from the vehicle over to the dead tree which contained the nest. Already the male was whistling away as the golden light was braking day. No doubt ready to change places with the female to do the day shift

Palm Cockatoos share brooding, the female broods at night and the male takes over during the day so I was keen to film the change over. .

Positioning myself within a small make shift hide, under some branches covered over with army camouflage net, I waited, for the male to arrive. 6am I heard both birds flying down slope towards me, whistling loudly as they approached. Some how, the female must have left the nest without me seeing her. I managed to get a few shots but he knew I was there and he behaved nervously and would not approach the stump. Eventually, I decided to call it quits, and get out of the hide and pack up. This created a real stir, the male suddenly realized his suspicions were right and he flew off protesting loudly as he went.

Having worked with most Australian parrots, I knew late evening is often the best time to film behavior, so I returned at mid afternoon. Not long after I got there the male flew into the top of the nest stump and proceeded to stare down the hollow and tilt his head towards the evening light as he did so. Having zoomed in tight to get head shots I realized just how magical this bird is. No wonder, it is known as the icon of Cape York. The bill is so large that it looks like some thing from a science fiction movie. The crest feathers are huge when erected and the large bright red cheek patch seemed to glisten in the fading sunlight. Suddenly he looked up slope and flew off. The female had arrived to change over at the nest. I quickly packed up and left. I did not want to risk the birds seeing me leave the hide in case it was enough to keep them off over night, which would be fatal for the chick.

I thought that was going to be it for the day as I walked back to my Toyota, how wrong could I be. Not far from the vehicle I heard a Palm Cockatoo whistling and calling loudly. Just in case he didn’t fly off I approached as cautiously as possible.

He let me approach to within about twenty five meters, much closer than I expected. Just hoping he would stay there I nervously raised the tripod and camera to a comfortable level and hit the button.

What I began filming just blew me away. He began displaying like a true bird of paradise from New Guinea. He raised his wings into a perfect arch, bowed tail up in the air, and gave this call that is unique to this cockatoo. It is the closest thing that I have ever heard in the wild to human language – “HAWO” so close to hello that it’s not funny. It was like he was playing and talking to me all in one breath - and on top of that I was getting it all on film.

He kept this up for nearly twenty minutes though it felt like seconds. Then the final act was whiles displaying and doing all these unbelievable things he actually cut off a branch and made a drumming stick, and proceeded to use it. This cockatoo is well known as a tool maker. It regularly cuts off branches and cuts small solid sticks to use as a drumming stick to bang against branches as a display tool. Eventually other Palm Cockatoo’s were calling up slope which drew him up to join them. This was a half hour that I will never forget as long as I live. The behavior was just awesome and to be there with a camera was just a dream, I almost had to pinch myself to see if it was real.

Thinking that was it as the light was fading, I began driving off and about 300m up the road, I saw what he was drawn to. There were about eight Palm Cockatoo’s all displaying on top off a tree. Slowly getting out of the truck numb with excitement , I walked towards them with the camera thinking any second now they will see me and fly off, but they didn’t I was so close that it was hard to fit them in the frame. Eight birds were there and more were coming. The feelings I had were not for publication, it was just out of this world to be this close. They were so intent on displaying to each other that they didn’t seem to notice or care about me at all.

I was now standing with camera running less than ten meters from some of the most magical behavior that I had ever seen, it went on for ten minutes or so and became more intense as other cockatoo’s arrived. There was no aggression. It seemed like a playing site or theatre where all the neighbors became acquainted. There were full on displays, head bowing, mechanical movements and lots of the famous “hawos”.

What a day to remember. Australia has many beautiful birds and animals and I reckon Palm Cockatoo’s are in a league of there own.

Trouble is, are they safe? I DON’T THINK SO!! Unfortunately there is some serious talk of logging and all sorts of other development close to Iron Range. Should this happen, the majesty of the Great Palm Cockatoo in the region may be a thing of the past.

I only hope public opinion and those in power to stop this unforgivable intrusion, look at Cape York as the last frontier and treat as such.

Look forward to sharing another diary adventure soon.