Red-shouldered Hawk

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

My wife and I were at Viera late this afternoon and spied this hawk on a perimeter fence post. He was very cooperative and posed for some time for myself and several other photographers. Unfortunately the background was very messy with lots of branches, so I blurred the BG which I usually don't like to do. Hope you like it, please give me your opinion on the blur job. Shooting information below:
Nikon D3S
2011:02:16 17:20:05
1200mm
1200mm (in 35mm film)
Subject dist: 28m
1/160 sec, f/8
Mode: Av
Metering: Spot
ISO: 200
White balance: Auto
Flash: Off
File size: 139MB
Image size: 1893 x 2409
Color space: sRGB
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Color profile: sRGB

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice pose, I would increase the contrast some, BG is a bit busy.

[Duane Noblick]

The bluring of the background looks fine to me and it is what it is. I like the slight head turn towards the viewer and the vertical pose of the young Hawk.

[Pieter de Waal]

Nice eye contact, exposure and detail, I agree with adding some contrast. The BG blur has softened the busyness, not much more you could have done IMHO.