Purple Gallinule Feeding On Fire Flag Blossoms

I captured this image at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. Most of the year the Purple Gallinules inhabit the underbrush but when the Fire Flag blossoms they cannot resist climbing the stalks to feed on the blossoms. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED image captured at 400mm
1/1000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +2/3 ISO 1800 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC 2018
Cropped for composition and presentation

Joe:

Great splay legged pose, food item, soft light, exposure, background.

Really nice.

Depending on what you have available, and its quality, might consider moving him a bit more to the right in the frame, because of his gaze, but works as is.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Joe, I like the splayed legs and the inquisitive pose with the slightly open beak. The colours look natural, and I like that he is placed against the clean upper BG. Another vote for moving him to the RHS.

Beautiful Image. I like the colors and soft light. Thanks for sharing

Joe, you've cornered the market on these guys. Love the feet, and the bit of blossom in the mouth. Agree about moving him slightly to the right if possible.

Love those feet! Great flowering perch too. I'm OK with the comp as is. I just wish the reddish band in the BG was smoother. Still something I'd love in my files!

Really nice pose and perch in this one, Joe and against and excellent background. The composition fits well too. Thanks for sharing.

Circle B is such a great place, Nice and easy trails and so many birds! I loved my one and only visit there. Funny for someone who has been a life long birder, my favorite sighting there were the Armadillos walking around by the visitor center. Getting these guys to perch up make a world of difference. You have a nice pose, although I wish the head was turned a bit more and a great look at those feet. Shot looks a little dark to me and maybe a little flat as well. I do wonder how much of what I am seeing is because I am viewing on a different monitor.

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, very much appreciated.

superb, the feet and head in focus is special

Love this one too. Being picky I wish the left foot wasn't obscured by the perch but that's probably just me being obsessive. Lovely shot.