Aplomado Falcon (c)

Even if it is a captive bird, the image is still fantastic, Carol. Great view of the plumage and head turn. The fanned out tail adds a lot. Must have been thrilling to see this rarity so close.

Now that you mentioned it, there seems to be a slight difference in the "blurriness" of the top and bottom vegetation in the back. Though I am not sure I would have picked up on it if you haven't said it.

Hi Carol,
To me the bird looks quite sharp, but the background has such a loss of detail that it doesn't look realistic. I'd like to see this processed without any noise reduction. A neat bird and quite a feat to get one to pose like this.

This is indeed one gorgeous raptor Carol, and definitely worth seeing in the larger version, as I really think you did the subject justice :^)

Although same as Govind suggests, had you not mentioned it I wouldn't have noticed anything (and, truth be told, it even hard for me to discern now) it might have been better for you to apply blur to all the background and I think you could even afford to take it up a notch.

I can understand why you and most likely others would want to keep a part of the tree trunk in the frame, but if this were mine I think I'd be tempted to crop it out completely, but that's just me and, with or without it, nothing takes away from the wonderful shot you captured of this handsome bird :^)

Beautiful is an understatement Carol. I like how you handled the background. I would love to see this species some day. Nice work.

Very well done image, Carol. Great detail and nice eye contact, the pose and textures are right on. But i think I'd remove some of the tree trunk, I realize there isn't much there, but it would move the bird a bit more off center, maybe.

Absolutely gorgeous. I love it all.