American Kestrel.

[Karl Egressy]

The light was coming from the side.
I think the perch was a cute one.
Thanks for looking.

Canon 5D M III
Canon 500 f4.0 L IS II. + 1.4x III.
ISO 320
f7.1
1/2500 s
HH.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Sweet image, Karl and quite unique. Don't recall seeing a kestrel posted in a setting like this. Love the perch and the how the small bit on the right along with the shadow balances the frame.
Side light handled very well. Wonder if the image could go just a bit brighter. Excellent work Karl.

[Marina Scarr]

This is really a terrific image, Karl. I love the perch, and the second bit of vegetation works well to balance the image. (I just saw Sid wrote the same thing.)

[Norm Dulak]

Beautiful, Karl. The vegetation on the right does add balance, and the pose, perch, colors and sharpness are all excellent. Well done! :cheers:

[keith mitchell]

Really top class shot Karl, it's got the lot IMHO.

Keith.:S3::S3::S3:

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot I like the composition and the perch, I would guess this is very unusual ( I can't ever remember seeing anything remotely like this with kestrels in the UK). Exposure and details on the kestrel are ideal.

[John Rowell]

Very nicely balanced between the perch and the twig on the right side. Love the IQ, nice sharp detail on the breast feathers. Very nice indeed.

[gail bisson]

This is terrific Karl! Love everything about it. The unusual, low to the ground perch is awesome.:5
Kestrel is beautiful as is the IQ. Love the snow and the little stem on the RHS which balances the rest of the shot.
No nits from me,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome perch and snowy setting here Karl, good techs, great low angle. The twig and shadow at right are popular, but for me I'd rather them not be there but looks like I'm the only one:e3

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Love it! In addition to what the others said: the color of the branch complements his own colors nicely!

[Iain Barker]

Great image Karl.
I too like the small branch and can't fault anything.
TFS
Iain

[Richard Flack]

Brilliant image Karl!

[Rob Melone]

Lovely composition here and just love that head position and eye contact.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful Kestrel, nice composition with the slightly out of focus branch mimicking the other that the bird is on.

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent pose and light, good exposure control and nice comp.

[David Salem]

As you know, I love Kestrels and I love this shot. Very nice to see him sitting down low with a snowy scene. Well done Karl.