Malabar Whistling-Thrush/Whistling Schoolboy.

[Satish Ranadive]

Yesterday I had a very nice almost four hours session on Sinhgad Fort at Pune, (4320ft/1317meters) in the cloudy morning with pair of this bird busy feeding their babies. Nest was very high on the cliff of rock. In breeding season male has a rich and remarkably human whistling songs, hence he is also called as Idle Schoolboy. Colors of birds are very elusive depending upon lights; otherwise it looks almost black and unable to spot on rocky background and also on the ground. Posting its profile picture sitting on the nice perch. Legs of this bird are black in color but before landing on perch he collected prey in front of me from muddy water, hence legs are with mud. Cropped and NR applied to BG.BG as it shot.

Canon: 550D, 100-400.
F: 6.3, 1/500, ISO: 2500, evaluating metering, White balance: Auto. HH.
Exposure bias: +1.3 stop.

Thanks for viewing and appreciation. C & C are much appreciated.
Kind Regards.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Superb shot Satish, like the colors and details.
Cheers
Sanjeev

[Graeme Sheppard]

That's a lovely photo and pose. The BG is a little distracting for me, because the green lines up too neatly with the birds head. I think that if your angle had been slightly different, to shift the green a little lower or to one side perhaps, it would have been a more balanced shot.

I like the legs, the mud adds a lot of interest for me.

[Alan Murphy]

Love the perch and pose. Wish for a head turn.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Fantastic color and detail. Might try it as a vertical as well. Just a bit too much negative space. My taste.

[David Salem]

Very cool looking bird. Never seen one before. Great techs and detail. Nice alert pose and like the perch. The green in the BG is distracting but you take what you can get. Nice Job.

David

[Melissa Groo]

Like the alert pose, perch, colors and details a lot, Satish. I too wish for more of a head turn but I still think it's a lovely portrait.

[Marina Scarr]

Stunning bird with great details and a nice pose. A better HA would have lifted this photo up a notch but still a lovely portrait as is, especially with those brilliant colors. I am seeing a slight "smudge" on the back of the head. You may consider bringing your yellows down a little to tone down the green grass just a little b/c it's pretty powerful and you don't want the grasses overshadowing your stunning bird.

[Satish Ranadive]

Stunning bird with great details and a nice pose. A better HA would have lifted this photo up a notch but still a lovely portrait as is, especially with those brilliant colors. I am seeing a slight "smudge" on the back of the head. You may consider bringing your yellows down a little to tone down the green grass just a little b/c it's pretty powerful and you don't want the grasses overshadowing your stunning bird.

Thanks for the kind comments.
I do have image with better HA,I will post it after reprocessing as per your suggestion.I will take care of smudge on head.

Regards,
Satish.