Horned Lark

The wind was blowing while this male was singing on the rock and an unanticipated hard gust almost blew him off the perch. At first glance this may look like a take-off but you can tell by the position of the feet and the left wing still mostly against the body that he's simply trying to regain his balance - which he did.

7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window on 2/13/11, small exposure adjustment in ACR, cropped to 56% of original image, sharpened bird and perch, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, not set up or baited

Larger version provided

Comments/critique appreciated