Ruddy Turnstone

Awesome pose with the head turn and the plumage looks really nice here.... like chocolate and caramel :-)

I like th pose and detail. If I may be so bold and suggest to place the bird slightly off center and make it more of a rectangular crop rather than a square. Perhaps that's just my taste, but I feel that the image would be stronger that way. Congrats!

Seems like an odd pose to me, but I like it, and the feather definition is great.
I agree with placing it off-center - more to the left since it is facing to the right.
Nice!
Sandy r

Thanks for the advice, Akos and Sandy. Here's a 4x5 crop rather than square.

I like the re-post - after looking at it some more there does appear to be a halo around the bird in both version. Simple fix, of course.

Very cool, Buck. My favorite method of finding birds, too. I really like the pose and the neat eye contact. Great angle.

Really neat angle and behavior you captured here Buck. To my eye there's too much room on the right in the repost because the birds head is turned toward the left. I think the original post is fine but you could take some off the right of that if you wanted to move it off center. Cool shot!

Cool shot Buck. Good job on the exposure and nice to capture the Ruddy in a busy pose.

Buck

I think the pose is great and shows a bird doing what it does naturally, in this case the turnstone is prodding for prey. I prefer the first version but would suggest a slight crop from the right. Just my own personal tastes. I enjoy how you left the reflection in this shot too. The only thing I might suggest is bringing down the contrast slightly to see if more detail in the darkest feathers would be visible.

I employed the lay down in the sand or mud and waiting method of getting this species to come closer to me in Florida and most of the time it paid off.

The colors in the bird matching so well those of the gravel are a very attractive aspect of this image, Buck. The head turn and reflection are great too. It's true that the original is quite centered. However, it gives more attention to the bird and less to the surroundings. So, I prefer the original (although both are fine!).

Now that bird is really digging for his supper. Nicely captured.
May