Not a Harlequin

[Bill Dix]

D90; 80-400 VR @ 330 mm, with 25mm ext. tube. ISO 400; f/7.1 @ 1320 s. Matrix metering @ -2.0 EV. Full-frame. Warmed up slightly in RAW conversion.

Went to Barnegat Lighthouse yesterday afternoon to photograph Harlequins, and they had decided to go elsewhere for the day. (Denise and Axel, have you failed to find them on some of your visits? Spoke with several birders there who said they might have been spotted on the other side of the channel.) Had to focus instead on Dunlins and other small birds on the rocks. Thought I might have oversharpened this one, but when I went back and redid it with less USM it looked bland so I've posted the first one. Would appreciate comment.

[arash_hazeghi]

Beautiful Bill, you got sweet light on the bird and feather detail is very good. I only see some JPEG compression artifacts (170KB file), if possible upload a bigger file.
Very nice image thanks for sharing it.

[Daniel Cadieux]

You had to settle for Dunlin? Bummer!! Just kidding, I love shorebirds:) Nice perch and surroundings. It does look borderline oversharpened. I see it's FF...good job in using the zoom's versatility and framing this one in-camera.

[Caroline Darmo]

I love the lighting, pose and background. Sharpening looks good from here but I wouldn't push it further.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the setting, angle and eye contact. It looks as if the critical focus is slightly in front of the bird. As for sharpening, maybe a bit less?

I went to Barnegat Light the other day and the harlequins were not there for the first time ever as far as I remember. They were on the other side of the channel. I have no clue if there was too much disturbance but last winter they always stayed at the jetty near the lighthouse.

[denise ippolito]

Bill, Nice to get this FF. I like the pose. Sharpening looks good to me, maybe just a tad too much? I"ve seen the Harlequins every time I've gone. I hope they come back.:(

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all. I appreciate the kind words and suggestions. I'll just have to go back and hope for the harlequins. And if not, there are plenty of willing shorebird subjects.

[Harshad Barve]

lovely pose, compo and light here
TFS

[Kiran Poonacha]

Nicely done , I like the way the bird stands out, I like the BG showing environ here, nice pose and details...