Killdeer

Sweetwater Wetlands Park, Gainesville, Florida

1/8/2018, 11:07:01 AM (very cold, overcast day)
Canon EOS 7D Mark II EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III @560mm
f/8, 1/600, ISO 800
Aperture priority, Evaluative metering, 45% of full frame

The Killdeer, at least the ones I've seen at Sweetwater, get alarmed and fly in a large group (there are a lot of them right now), making a very loud alarm sound, as soon as anyone just stops on the path.  If you keep walking and don't look at them they are okay.  So I decided to just let them get alarmed and fly away for the moment, and then I sat down in the grass to see what would happen.  Most all of them flew somewhere else, but this one came back, and we spent some quality time together.  After preliminary culling I still have almost 200 images of him(?).  I finally got up to leave before the bird did, and of course then he flew  somewhere making his alarm call.

My images don't all have this same exact environment.  I know it's harder to see the bird in this image, but I wanted to try it because I thought it was a pretty picture.  I lowered the contrast on everything but the bird and I added some diffusion to the background.  I can try another environment if I post another image.  But I wonder if this works for anyone.  Their necks are so white that they almost look painted on, so that's difficult, too.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.  If possible please view the larger version.  Thank you!