High key! This guy was flushed at high noon on a Christmas bird count! PP'ed in NX2 and CS3 with curves, Hue/sat and selective colors layers. I brightened the eyes and added a bit of sat there also. Sharpened with USM, NR with Noiseware Pro. This is about a 30% crop. It's still noisy, so don't look too close! C&C welcome.
Camera Model: NIKON D300, handheld
Shutter speed: 1/1000 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 800
Lens: 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6
Focal length: 400mm
Focal length: 600mm (in 35mm film)
VR Image Stabilization: On
AF mode: AF-C
A cool bird to see in flight Dan! Light angle was challenging, but you've done a pretty good job in post. I'd still brighten the bird a bit. I'd also crop some off the top and bottom.