Virginia Rail III

http://www.pbase.com/herderdog/image...8/original.jpg

Another pose of the Virginia Rail from Malhuer NWR in Central Oregon.
I had a tough time cropping this one--ended up with this. I missed super critical focus on the eye--so a tighter crop shows that a little. The bg also gets really busy in the tighter crop for me. Plus--I like the reflection. :)
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV ,Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM
1/1600s f/4.0 at 500.0mm iso800

Any image of a Rail is worth the praise, this one is very good.
A better angle would be good but I like it as it is too.
The action posture is very nice, and makes the image IMO.
Eye looks sharp to me. The only thing I would change,
actually, is the reflection:). Either all of the bird should be
reflected of crop it out completely.

Cheers,