Their camouflage is remarkable. They might stand out on a verdant lawn, but are difficult to see against a background of sun-dried vegetation or dead leaves. Often the only give-away is one large, yellow eye peering out from what looks like a mass of leaf litter and fallen eucalypt bark.
I was looking at something up in the trees, so I didn't see this stone-curlew near the shed. I was only a metre away before the bird gave up relying on its camouflage, jumped to its feet and hissed at me. Then it fled...two metres. It then settled down again in a spot where it could catch the sun on one side and the warmth of the corrugated iron on the other. Well, would you give up a spot like that?
As always, click on the pics to embiggen.
