At my local pond in Pretoria, there are a couple of sweet spots with regards to light and BG's. In this, I managed a shot against a distant foliage BG.
Canon 1D Mark IV
100-400 @ 275mm
1/1250
F/6.3
ISO 800
Nice capture Stuart. I like the pose and the fact that you have a foliage BG. Nice colors and the bird is exposed well with lots of nice detail. I like the comp too. Well done