Ian, first thing I notice was the excessive noise. I don't use Noiseware Pro, so don't know how it works. You might try to "expose for the right" so you don't have to deal with so much in post, especially with a dark bird and background. If you have room on the bottom, I would add some to make it more of a true vertical, and clone out the twig. Nice feather detail.
Nice details on the body and i like the eye
i would like a bit more on the bottom and yes i can see that noise in the BG, did you post before the noise reduction
Ian - excellent feather detail and nice, sharp eye and beak. I like the pose but agree would like to see it without the twig on the lower left. I also use Noiseware Pro for my noise reduction so I'm curious to know what profile you might have used for this one? I think it should be able to handle this background pretty easily...
Beautiful moment you have captured .Love the pose,great details,color scheme and composition.
Re post is superb.Good thing you have removed the stick coming near the tail.