Hooded Merganser

We are finally having a break in the winter rains and they were predicting sun yesterday, so I headed down to Ridgefield NWR.  A lot of other people had the same idea but it was still an enjoyable and fairly productive morning.  Among others, I caught this little lady preening and she was quite cooperative.  I liked the early morning light even though it was pretty bright on the belly (however it wasn't blown) and I liked her preening pose with the eye still visible.

7D2, Sigma 150-600 C at 374mm, hand held out passenger window (Ridgefield always seems to make you shoot out the wrong window).  f/5.6, 1/2000, iso 1000, aperture priority, pattern metering, -2/3 EV (for that belly).  Processed in LR5 & CS6.  Cropped from a horizontal original with a tad taken off the top.  9.46 Mpixels before resizing.  Cloned out the end of a stick entering the upper right side.

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions over the course of 2015.  They all go to make me a better photographer.  I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous 2016 with lots of cooperative subjects and great light.