Magpie Shrike

That could be a difficult bird to fit in the frame and compose, I like the contrast against the blue sky and the larger image has good detail in the black feathers, what an interesting looking bird, well done.

I am not so sure that is true progress Ken, I also still call it the long-tailed shrike. Excellent sharpness and detail and I like the typical proud pose. Their long tails always make compositions challenging though.

A new Shrike for me .love the way he is clutching the tree top tip.very interesting composition and nicely photographed.Not sure why people have to change the names sometimes of a species. We have A Long Tailed duck.was ,not the origanal name either, but as it went by the name of Old Squaw Duck .It was deemed was no longer politicaly correct to keep the old one ..

love the detail in those blacks -- the tail gives the pictures a pleasing diaganol look and feel -- good to see this shrike

Very nice image, Ken. Lots of detail in both the blacks and the white. The perch is interesting in that it seems disproportionately small compared to the birds' size. Nice one.

Dang, that's an interesting bird! - esp after shooting loggerheads this morning. I like seeing that typical shrike hooked bill, the bit of a curious head turn and your exposure looks good. I do notice a bit of a narrow halo around shrike and perch that I'd work on if it were mine. Love seeing this bird.

Thanks everbody for your positive comments, the tail makes this a difficult bird but now that I have one I will try again.

Does anybody know any methods for eliminating or avoiding halos which are constantly annoying with blue BG's.

I predominately use layers rather than selection tools.