There is a certain look a Great Kiskadee does better than most other birds. This is it. Of course what lifts this image out of the bird portrait class (imho) is the bokeh…which is mostly light, diffraction lensed by the leaf cover behind the bird.

As you might suspect, if you are following this blog, these were taken on today’s Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival field trip. Mine was to the Williams’ home Bird Sanctuary in Pharr TX. Birding was slow, but the Kiskadees were there in plenty.

Canon SD4000IS behind the 15-56 Vario eyepiece of the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL, for an equivalent focal length (field of view) of about 1200mm, 1) 1/100th sec. @ ISO 250 and 2) 1/50th @ ISO 400. Programmed auto.

A bit of Recovery for the white and yellow plumage in Lightroom. Fill Light, Blackpoint right, added Clarity, a touch of Vibrance, and Sharpen narrow edges preset.