From 1984 I had been surveying Nightjars in Laughton Forest and occasionally on other heaths in North-west Lincolnshire but it took me until 2005 to actually find one on the ground in daylight but that encounter taught me a lot in terms of where to look and just how hard you have to search to see a cryptic coloured bird that melts into its chosen habitat with such perfection. In subsequent years I have found several birds and a few nests but the bird featured here was special. It was the best camouflaged bird I have ever come across simply melting into the dead silver birch boughs that it was perched on and I have to admit to only seeing it on second or third look even though I was searching for Nightjars at the time, so perfect was its camouflage on its chosen logs .

Taken on a Canon 1DIIN camera with a Canon 300 2.8 lens and 1.4x converter

1/100th second at f 4.5 and ISO 320