Short-toed Eagle with prey

In Greece the short-toed Eagle is called snake Eagle and here you can see the reason. In this case the Eagle has just caught a snake which is still alive. I saw him just in time to create a series of images before he moves away.
Three Carrion Crows tried to steal the prey in the air, but the Eagle managed to evade attacks and to escape with it. Finaly he landed in a distant tree in order to deal with the snake. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the aerial battle since it was too far away.
This image is not the best of the series, but I wonder which is the right way to frame it. The bird is making a right turn so I left some space to his right. What do you think?

Image created last month at Kaloni saltworks, Lesvos Island, Greece.

Canon 1D2n, 500 f/4 with 2xII extender, AI-servo.
1/1600, f/9, ISO 320.

Comments and sugestions are welcome.

Petros

Nice incoming pose and eye contact. I would crop a bit tighter and put the bird further to the left in the frame.

Great sharpness and nice wings down pose. The moment with the prey item is superb. Agree with Axel, tighter and placement on the left would be just about right for me.

Robert

I would go with something like this or similar, I like this shot a lot althought the light is not ideal. Congratulations!

Congratulations on a wonderful image Petros. Your timing was great and I agree with Axels comments and suggestions. Many thanks for sharing.

I have to disagree with cropping, this works very well for me and the eye contact in priceless!

I would leave it as presented.

Thanks!

Wonderful to get this bird with the snake and a very nice flight pose. Ramon's crop works well. Good sharpness and flight pose. Well done!

Great shot. The eye contact is awesome. I like both the cropped version and the full version. I hope the Short-toed Eagles had a successful year in Greece.

Markus

I appreciate your comments. It seems that there are many options for framimg this image. I may post another image from this series in the next days.

Thanks again

Petros