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This is the young chick of a Yellow wattled lapwing. They're usually precocious leaving the nest early, a good strategy considering the nest is on the ground making them easy prey.

This one was walking around before it had learnt to fly. And its strategy was to duck head under grass and lie absolutely still. The body colour blends right in with the ground and you cant really see them, sometimes even when you are a few feet from them. Luckily for me, I saw this one. I was careful to be slow and not freak it out too much. And I got pictures. I do always worry about getting this close to wild animals and close it is because this is a wide lens.

The wide was a decision. I wanted the sense of protective niche under the grass in an open space, the low angle gets you 'into' this niche. Theres an edge in this open space that you can see the beginning of on the left hand side of the image. The few trees on one side underscore the lack elsewhere. The angle was also slightly decided by where the sun came from, to prevent the bird from completely overexposing, I had to make sure my shadow fell on it. Off course it was also prompted by the fact that I had only two lenses with me...this or my bazooka. I wish I'd had my close up lens, to make some nice portraits...oh well.