While this wasn't the perch I had been staking out, after this bird repeatedly landed on it, I started to think that perhaps it's brilliant spring colors might look sort of interesting on the dried out roses from last season.....
Nikon D2Xs, 500 AFSII, TC14EII, F 7.1, ISO 640, 1/200
It's a lovely photo Jim. Perch, pose, and BG all work very well together. I agree with Taylor that there's less feather detail than I would like to see; perhaps a touch of fill flash would have provided some additional perceived sharpness. It's still a great photo!
Jim, This photo works well on all levels. While a bright green perch would look neat this sort of shows that it is the end of the season and time to move on and migrate. A beautiful image.
This is lovely, Jim - looks a bit like a painting with that soft light. The BG and perch are stunning and the colourful bird just leaps out. There is a little obvious noise under the tail and wing that has probably been accentuated by sharpening for web.