Dan, excellent pose and HA. good job in getting so close. I liked the placement of the subject as well.
Light angle issue as already noted by others. We dont always realize it in the field(as dynamic range our eyes capture is high) but overcast light also has direction. You might want to try some curves work to lighten the shaded areas a bit.
Thanks for the comments.
I lightened as much as I could without really blowing out the whites.
It does look better.
The advice here is always good. Thanks again.
Second image greatly improves the shot. The juves of this species seen at
Harns Marsh earlier this Spring believed to be all lost to Black-crowned Night-Herons.