Warbler+Repost

I like the fall colors here Steve, I agree with you he blends in nicely. I would consider cropping a little closer from the left, just enough to remove the larger vertical branch which runs through the frame.

Nice image. I agree with Nates suggestions regarding crop and taking out the branch. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice, Steve. I'm fine with the branch. The comp is delightful.

I saw one of these today, but I wasn't gifted with a nice image like this one. I love the fall leaves echoing the colors in the bird. I don't think the suggested crop from the left will leave enough room. I would LEAF it alone. And enjoy it as an environment image. Nicely done.

Steve, I like the suggests for alternative crops, but I am not sure you have the pixels to do it. Only way to know is to give it go. To me the BG looks a bit too clean. How much NR did you use? I might back off on the NR is this were mine.

I love how the yellows of the foliage play off the colors of the bird. His legs do look spindly.

Go for the crop. Thats my vote.

Thank you all so much for your comments. Here is a try at implementing Nate's crop suggestion. The new image is now 4.9 MP. I'm fine with that. However, my idea in composing the original image was to show this little bird as almost a leaf amongst the trees. I retained the branches to frame the bird. The new crop is very attractive but makes it more of a "bird as the center of attention" image. As usual, I guess it's a matter of personal preference.
Regarding the NR of the background that Ron mentioned: these days I'm using Topaz Denoise 5. The Topaz company has posted a new video tutorial on how to use their software. I'm following that and am very happy with the results so far. Ron mentioned that the background was too clean. I do have the option in the software of adding noise........However, after such an extended effort to reduce noise in my images I'm not sure how much to add! I think I'll let the too-clean-a-background alone for now!!
One issue that none of you mentioned was a halo along the front of the bird against the blue sky. It's not present on my tiff file but did show in the jpeg. I made some effort to remove it on the large version. I think it may be evident in the small version of both the original and repost. However, I'm uncertain. Using a threshold adjustment layer I can identify it. Since it is not present in my uncompressed image I decided to stop fussing about it.

Steve,
beautiful fall colors that match so well with the bird. I prefer the comp in the repost. Very nice image.

Steve, I like this for the same reasons you do and I think I prefer the original, The colors are wonderful. I do see the halo you mention.

Steve,

I think I'd like a crop somewhere in between the two you have presented which would leave a bit more of the setting than your second version. I like the contrast of the warm tones of the leaves and bird and the cool one of the sky.