Male White-winged Crossbill

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk III, 500mm f/4 + 1.4xII, 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 400
Manual Fill Flash at -2
About 60% of Full Frame (full height, cropped from left and right side)

Had a hard time figuring out a suitable crop for this pose.
Went through many iterations before settling on this one.

Photographed last week at Salisbury Beach State Reservation campground in Massachusetts.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques !

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great setting, light, details and the open bill adds to it. A bit more space at the top would have been nice but I like it as is.

[joel quenneville]

Well lit, great pose and good envirionment. I like it a lot. I might crop some off the bottom.

[Steve Maxson]

A very interesting moment captured in wonderful light, Mike. I might like just a bit more room at the top to fully include the cone on which the bird is feeding. Well done.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Another vote for more cone visibility on top. Very sharp and great details. I like it!

[Arthur Morris]

Love the open bill and yes, a VERT ORIG would have been sweet. Wonder how this would look with about a 2-3 degree clockwise rotation...