Female Grackle

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

This was taken early in the morning as we were awaiting the return of the Merlin. The light was lovely that morning as the sun was rising.

Nikon D 300
Nikon 300 mm F 2.8
ISO 640
1/1000, F9
manual

all comments are appreciated. Thanks !

[Malcolm Benn]

What a fantastic image Judy. Love the light, the dual perch and the mottled colouring of the background, just wish the tail feathers had a bit more detail.

[David Gancarz]

I love the background colors and the different color reeds. Very nice composition of an under-appreciated species.

[Steve Zamek]

Lovely and simple composition. I love the two-toned double perch which mimics the background color. The birds position is perfect. There appears to be a bit of noise remaining in the background in the lower portion of the photo.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Liked it a lot. Sweet BG. Lovely pose and perch. Only suggestion is a little NR on BG. One bird that I am guilty of ignoring a lot. This provides me the necessary inspiration to go after it. Thx for sharing.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hey Judy, this is a common but nice bird, and I believe this gal has a good personality. Nice eye contact and pastel colors on BG makes this one for me.

[Dan Busby]

Judy - is this a Boat-tailed? It's a superb image that draws attention to those birds that we often look right past. The two differently-colored perches really "underline" the composition - a nice result. There is a bit of noise in the lower part and the tail is a bit lost but I don't mind that much because the bird's head and body are so strong. Beautiful.

[Doug Brown]

I particularly like the double perch; very cool! Tail feathers are slightly underexposed, but overall a very nice image.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the perch, eye contact, composition and light. Another vote for NR on the BG.

[Raymond Barlow]

beautiful image Judy!, the light must have been just right.

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely looking shot Judy. Bird really stands out nicely from the bg. Lucky you to get the two toned perch. Very nicely done. Dave

[Jim Crosswell]

Great lighting Julie! That dual perch really looks great.

[kenn threed]

A strikingly pretty capture Judy, I love this composition!

It's a pity the dark details got lost, but the rest is so nice it really doesn't matter. The detail and color in the head and breast is wonderful and sharp without losing the softness of the bird. (Birds are soft, and far too often our quest for detail damages that imo). I do see a thin halo tho... would be worth the time to soften that for this lovely image I think.

best regards,

Kenn

In all our years of chasing off the male Grackles here, we've never seen (or recognized) a female. ??

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Many thanks to you all for your comments Much appreciated.

judylynn