I managed this image the other night at the Mayport boat ramp along the Saint Johns River. I would have liked to have had a better angle, but was happy to have framed this in camera (no crop).
Canon 40D
EF400 f/5.6L
Av @ f5.6 1/6000s
ISO 800
Pattern Metered at 0/0EV
Good framing for no crop. At first I thought maybe some more space on the bottom would be nice but on second thought I like it as it is. Attached is an edit with a bit more color and extra sharpening applied. I think the sharpening would be more effective with the full size image but I think you get the idea.
The sharpened version looks better but the composition and head angle are not ideal. I would go for a wider crop and a frame you made two or three frames before this one if it is a series.
Much better, Leroy. Admittedly, I sharpen for the original size only and don't resharpen after I size for posting here (too many files to keep track of...)
This is the only other (earlier) shot I took of this fella...admittedly it is a better angle. I cropped it some since I cut off some of its left wing in camera.