Gambel's Quail Chick

LOVELY 
Great angle low down enabling a great BG.

Great job catching it skylined like that, Kurt.  A beautiful portrait.  Have you tried cropping out the small band of oof foreground at the bottom to see if that changes the look?

Adorable, Kurt ! Since it's a small bird, I think it's great that you left so much space around this little one ! Colors are superb. Cheers, Hans

Wow, what a cutie, Kurt. If this is full frame, I'm surprised you were able to get one this close. I don't care for OOF foregrounds, but I know that shooting from lower angles is less imposing to skittish species when you get a bit close.

Nice pose and excellent detail against a perfect background. My preference would be a crop just below the green stuff.

Sweet! !  
I'm unsure about the band of vegetation and OOF sand. I think I might get rid of the green, at least, as it draws my eye. The OOF sand should be fine alone. 
Funny little heads..

Sandy

The colors and light on this one are remarkable.  Good job with the detail in the composition.  I'm not bothered by the greenery.  The background makes this image.

Thanks for the comments. I did look at cropping above the vegetation when I processed this, but then the comp suffers by placing the chick too low in the frame. I also elected not to clone because I’ve been trying lately to only clone when really absolutely necessary. Personally, I didn’t feel it was necessary because it’s natural habitat which doesn’t interfere at all with the subject. Now, if I was trying to sell this as an art piece I would probably clone it out, but something like this is probably better served in a magazine article.