Longest tongue in the bird world?

[Paul Randall]

Black shouldered Kite, Werribee, Australia

No of course its not!! Just the tail end of one of the many mice I watched this bird eat over a mornings work.
Not the nicest perch I know but it sort of adds to the drama of the shot I think.
Do the whites seem a bit dull?

Canon 5D 400mm f5.6 L iso 400 1/6400 5.6 Eval metering -1/3 exp. comp, handheld

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

killer pose/timing..maybe just a bit crop to the bottom!

[Paul Randall]

It is a very ugly/scraggily tree isnt it. :)

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Paul,
Ugly/scgraggly the post may be, but I think that it adds to the drama too! Killer bird and behaviour.
Best,
Nicki

[Harshad Barve]

Killer pose and tree adds to much to drama ,
TFS

[Stu Bowie]

I just love these guys and their red eyes. Great timing to capture the mouse going down the hatch. I would maybe sharpen him a tad more.

[anupbunny]

Awesome shot from every angle!!! I know its extremly difficult in handling the white with this bird..

[denise ippolito]

Paul, I like the pose and the open mouth w/ the tail of the mouse. I might tone down the bird's right leg a bit. Beautiful eye.

[Julie Kenward]

Wow...what timing! I think the tree adds to the image but I'd crop it about halfway up from the bottom - I think there is too much tree compared to the bird.

[Bill Dix]

Great shot of a great bird. What an eye! I agree that some of the scragglies add character, but there might be too many that are competing with the bird. If it's within your personal ethic you might consider removing the ones in the lower triangle, and cropping just a bit. Hope you don't mind my playing with it.

[Fabs Forns]

Beautiful EXP control and action with sweet BG. Perch is a bit messy, if cloning is OK with you, you could do some pruning.
Whites look fine to me. Did you feed the mice to him?

[Bonnie Block]

Super image--great timing and nicely exposed. Agree with Fab's suggestion of pruning of the original perch.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Ripper image! Do like Bill's crop a little better. The whites look great to me. If ya wanna punch em up try selective color white/nuetral isolated. Super job Paul. I could see this headed to one of the Image of the Year runs.

[Arthur Morris]

The whites look fine to me too. The eye in the ORIG post is a bit too saturated but seems a bit toned down in the repost. A beautiful bird; sharp, perfect pose and exposure. Open bill and mouse tail killer.

I do not see the perch as adding anything to the image and it would seem to me that it would not do well in any contest with a perch that ugly. And even if it were trimmed of all the scragglies, it would still be ugly. Shoot me an e-mail and I will let you know what I really think <smile>

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Great looking raptor. The mice's tail really tells the story. I agree about the perch not been the nicest.
Love the eye and whites.
The sky has a slight magenta cast and needs some NR.

[Simon Bennett]

What time, good job with exposure and sharp. Perch lacks a little charisma.

[Paul Randall]

Thanks for all the comments. I did not feed the mice to it, it was just a very good hunter!!
This species has been known to catch and eat about 13 mice a day when conditions are right.
I'm glad the whites look spot on to all of you. Bill, your repost is a major improvement, thank you. :)

[arash_hazeghi]

Amazing photo Paul, love everything about it, eye contact, HA, prey in the mouth, etc. well done.