Skimmer calling in flight (blur)

Another "pleasing blur" from Nickerson Beach. It was pure luck to get the bird with his beak open and wings up at the same time! The PS optimization was just to add a bit of canvas at the top and adjust the whites on the bird's body to bring them down under 250. Making blurs was completely new for me, and a bit counter-intuitive for someone who's always chasing a sharper picture, but I like the form of the flying bird and illusion of motion that this one made.

7D mkII, 100-400 f/4-5.6 IS II hand held
1/30 @ f/8, ISO 100
DPP/PS

As always, all thoughts and critiques are welcome!
Jake

Blurs are fun to create, and can be rewarding as well. I'm OK with it here, but I am a bit on the fence as if I really like it or not. I do find it a touch bright overall. What I'm really liking is the top half of the wing - those primaries look pretty cool. The open bill adds to the overall shape as well.

Yuppers. The whole thing is too bright. But there is a lot that I like about this one. Who the heck taught you to try and create pleasing blurs?

with love, artie

I dunno, some guy from New York, I think. Seemed to know what he was doing. :t3 :t3

Here's a rework with everything dialed down somewhat. Nu?

Better but too YELLOW. I reduced the YELLOWs 70%. Two things: #1: the new size limit is 1920 < 600kb. #2: part of the problem here is that the eye is really mush. Very sharp would be great (but very difficult). But a bit more well defined would be much better. Do you have a suitable eye from another image. Again, the near-wing is killer.

with love, artie