Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)

Place: Phoenix, AZ
Date: December 3, 2016, 10:05 am
Equipment: Nikon D7200, Nikon AF-S 70-300 F/4.5-5.6 G VR @ 300mm, hand held
Exposure: ISO 800, Aperture priority matrix metered, 1/320th @ f11, -1/3^rd ev
Raw, PS CC on Mac, 70% of frame

I don’t normally shoot at feeders, and I don’t think I’ve ever posted a feeder shot here before. But I’ve also never seen a kinglet spread the crown spot as much as in this image.

While I was at Bosque del Apache in December my wife called all excited because a kinglet was displaying close to one of our windows. When I got home form NM a couple days later the kinglet was still performing at the hummingbird feeder just outside, and I was lucky to get this shot before it moved on.

This is through the dirty glass. The shadow side of the face was so dark I had to do two rare conversions and stack them to get a better balanced exposure.

Honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. Please see the larger version for critical analysis.