Lady Crossbill

Thanks for posting Clayton. I'm surprised at the quality of the Tokina lens, as they often provide very unsuitable results, but you seem to have gotten quite close here.
You got a nice head turn from the female Crossbill, and to get a Red, is always a bonus.
I am seeing some noise artifacts pretty much all over the image except for the background.
I would suggest using something like neat image , or another similar program to remove this.
Other than those factors, its a nicely composed shot.

Thanks Nick. You are correct about the noise. I didn't notice it until I saw the posted version. I filtered it with Neat Image and lets see how that works. I like the Tokina but it does have limitations. It works best stopped down to F8 or more.

That seems to have done the trick Clayton

I imagine she'll be quite lonely on Valentine's day with that kisser LOL. You wonder how they can eat hah? Great shot. Great dof comp and perch

Clayton:
Yes, the noise is gone in the repost. I would love to see this species - that you have captured so well.

Clayton,

The repost is better.

I like the bird's pose, the head turn and the great view of the cross bill.