Purple Martin

We've finally been able to establish a colony of these birds the last few years and I spent some time a couple of evenings ago trying for flight shots as they came back to the gourds they nest in.  Exposure is a real pain for this species-almost worse than dealing with crows and ravens.

Note:  I am continually amazed at the quality of this lens.  There was literally no fringing on this dark bird against a blue sky.

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 562 mm, f/7.1, 1/1600, iso 640, manual exposure.  Processed in LR5 & CS6.  Cropped to 6.3 MP before resizing for the web.  Taken at 8:10 PM on July 2nd. 

Please view the larger image-it works much better.

Comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks,