Square-tailed Kite coming home.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I captured this fellow coming in to its nest. The two young he and his partner raised from October 10 - December 10 were - by this time - up and about, flying short distances from tree to tree still in the vicinity of their nest. The rugged tail also makes me think it's a male as it would do most of the hunting while the female cares for the young and he would not hesitate to dive into a tree foliage and all to grab nestlings (primary prey) for the young. I watched the whole episode of nest repair, mating, courting, and rearing. A very special experience by all means. Though this is one of our rarer - or less common - birds of prey, they are very accepting of our human presence.

30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x, ISO800, f/5.6, 1/800th, 430EX with beamer at zero (most likely). Almost full frame. Not a fan of the bland sky though. :(

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose and head position. I would crop it as a pano, increase contrast and sharpen it a bit more.

[Randy Stout]

Akos:

Thanks for the post, and the details, that always adds a lot for me. I love learning about the birds in the image.

When I first saw this I thought that somehow the perspective had been distorted, something about the head position, and the angle of the body.

It is sharp, good head angle, wonderful separation in the primaries, great tail flare, although as you pointed out the tail feathers are beat up a bit.

I might crop up the tiniest bit from the bottom, but more a matter of taste than substance.

Thanks again!

Randy

PS: Axel and I were typing again at the same time. Look at the posting times!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Thanks Axel and Randy. I was looking at that time and returned to the main avian page, noted the two posts. Yay! THanks for the suggestions. Couldn't tell if I had enough contrast either. Like that pano suggestion. :)

[Stu Bowie]

Great sighting Akos. Its always great to capture a raptor, and I like the wing spread in this. Comp wise, I would take off quite a bit from the bottom, and agree a bit more contrast will make this pop. Well captured.

[Thonnaksar NOP]

Incredible detail considering the angle of shot and lighting conditions !
What a beautiful bird !

[Arthur Morris]

Ditto above but for me, this needs a good crop from the bottom as the area near the bottom of the frame does zero for the image. And yes to more sharpening. Best mate.

[Marina Scarr]

Hey Akos:

Love the story you tell about your subjects and how hard you work to capture these images. You put me to shame here in Florida where it's so much easier.

Love the pose here with the upturned head and all the feathers spread widely. Agree that a crop would make this a more powerful image. Nice use of flash.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Thanks for the tips and comments. :)

Here is a pano crop and I gave it a little 'S' curve as well as an edge sharpen that I subsequently reduced to 60%.

[Arthur Morris]

The repost is a big improvement. Way to go mate. The biggest improvement was the crop.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

The repost is a big improvement. Way to go mate. The biggest improvement was the crop.

Thank you Maestro. :) One step at a time. BTW, if you do look closely, you will be able to see a little fledgling in his talons. :)