Male Red-backed Fairywren with food

[Peter Scholer]

Male Red-backed Fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus)
Cricket/grasshopper is for the young nesting babies.
Lennox Head, NSW Australia.

D500, 600mm f4 VR, 1.4 tele and Tripod
Shutter 1250, f8, Auto ISO 800, exp 0
7.38am -23/09/2018

Photoshop crop, exp, tonal adjustments, added canvas space to left side and bottom for better composition
Noise reduction and sharpening

Trying to show some of the males back colour. This is the orange form. The red form is much further north in Australia.
The very closely sourced perch is a placed Banskia sp. seed/flower head and is dominant part of the Wallum (Banksia) heath natural habitat that the birds are nesting in.

Thanks for looking and please feel free to comment.
Peter

[Arthur Morris]

Great bird and pose and you did well with the relatively harsh light. Nice bug!\\

with love, artie

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Peter, nice leaning pose showing off the grasshopper, and I do like the cocked tail. You have a lovely smooth colourful BG too. I agree with Artie with light looking a touch harsh.

[gail bisson]

Very cool looking bird .
Love the bug in the mouth and perky pose with upright tail..
The light was quite harsh and the blacks look quite blocked.
Would love to see this bird in early morning light.
I am not crazy about your comp as I feel there is too much dead space in front of the bird.
If this is not a big crop I could see a vertical composition,
Gail

[Peter Scholer]

Thanks appreciate the comments.
Can see what you are talking about.
I will find one with better/gentler light.
And try and crop it with less negative space.
Peter

[dankearl]

I would go vertical comp, but nice pose and bug...

[John Mack]

Nice pose on the bird with a nice insect. Light looks harsh but oh well. Great background.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the bug, smooth BG and the perky pose is great. I agree with comp suggestions above. Nice image Peter.