I was trying to shoot some ducks from the car and this guy landed very close. I guess he did not notice me. As soon as he did, he flew away. Gave me one mean look before taking off. I did not get time to focus-recompose or make the camera vertical. The lack of space below bothers me a lot. Some grasses at the feet are toasted.
40D. 300 f/4 non-IS and 1.4x. iso 320. f/5.6. 1/250. exp. comp +2/3rd.
Pose and eye contact are pretty cool. I also like the low angle. I can see why you would have preferred more room and think it should be possible to tone down the grass at the bottom more.