Is there an ugly bird contest somewhere?

I hadn't had a chance to shoot birds since the Osprey fledged, then in the last 3 days I've had three good sessions with different birds. Will get back in the swing here, I hope -- been busy. But before I post some slightly more serious images, I couldn't resist this one. This guy is right up there with the entrants in the ugly dog contests we see at county fairs. I'm not even sure what it is, but guessing a juvenile Great-tailed Grackle.

Canon 7D2, 600 f/4 II + 1.4X III, big Gitzo with Wimberley II, ISO 800, 1/320 at f/10. Horizontal cropped at the sides and just a little from the top. Just very basic adjustments in LR. No getting lower here -- the sewer pond police wouldn't like it.

Diane:

He seems pretty self confident despite the tattered plumage. Effective composition, nicely exposed.

The background bokeh seems just a bit busy. A larger f/stop would have helped, but perhaps you were set up for a different scenario than this fellow.

It is always good to keep an eye out for the nonconventional bird shots!

Randy

Excellent image in habitat. Very nice inquisitive pose. I like the feather details and him too,nice colours.
Well, I will not call him ugly. This is just a phase in his life.:S3:

Regards,
Satish.

Thanks, guys! Here's a closer crop -- I do hope it's just a teenager awkwardness thing. I've found that with that much magnification (840mm) that stopping down a little helps keep more of the bird in focus, especially helpful for actively foraging ones such as I had this day. A close BG, as from this angle, is pretty ugly even wide open. Would love to get a lower angle but not possible here. On a more serious image I'd remove the specular highlights.

BTW, this is cropped down to 13%of the original frame -- not bad for the 7D2 at ISO 800. Did just a touch of NR on this one, though, just on the BG.

Well if beauty is skin deep this fellow is inside out ....not the prettiest but interesting

Haha, poor guy! Nice photo, Diane. I love it! Thanks for sharing!


Mike

Definitely an ugly bird! I know at this magnification ratio the DOF gets razor thin wide open but I was thinking that the lack of sharpness could be because the lens is not calibrated properly or having issues focusing like some of the early 7DIIs. Just a thought. FoCal should tell you either way. TFS! Could be my imagination but it looks a tiny bit front focused to me.

John

Uh! What a cutie! NOT!
Nicely thought out image.
I prefer the OP.
The RP that is tighter is noticeably noisy due to the severity of the crop.
TFS!

Funny title!
Agree 100% with Randy's critique.
BG a bit busy. IQ on the bird is very ggod.
Good choice of comp.
Gail

I hope it's obvious this wasn't posted as a serious image -- I just couldn't resist getting a shot of this bird. BG and noise were not good, of course, but no choice was possible to minimize them. The crop is just to show more clearly the poor thing's appearance.

But what is it -- a juvenile Great-tailed Grackle? Isn't it late for a juvenile with such early development of feathers? (Just shot a few days ago.)