Bearded woodpecker

Another from Africa. Taken on the same overcast afternoon as the bee-eater I posed a few weeks back. There were about half a dozen of these woodpeckers making their way through the woodland below some walkways. Had to contort myself into a variety of unnatural positions to get them in the viewfinder, the birds being quite a way below me. Unfortunately most shots were too "twiggy" with obscured subjects, but this one looked ok. Just a shame none of the "keepers" really showed off their crimson caps very well.

Portrait crop from landscape original, with a little bit more taken off the top and left, probably about 40-45% of the original. Adjustment to standard stuff on the RAW and then some sharpening of the subject. No cloning

40D + 120-300 + 2xTC @ 418mm, ISO 800 and f6.3 for 1/800, +1/3ev

All comments welcome

Great stuff Magnus, pity about the back branch behind the head but no big deal.
Cheers
JohnR

Nice Woodpecker magnus, excellent sharpness. There is not much you can do about the background...maybe a bit tight at the bottom but other then that a fine image!
Rene de heer

I like this one Lovely colours and great detail. BG isn"t a problem for me.

Sandra

Agree with Rene on this one the BG fine, nice image.

Regards

Nice capture Magnus but the BG is a bit distracting.

You sometimes have to take them as them come, and you did well here.

I think the light was to your advantage here, as it has enabled you to get good detail on the chest/stomach.

A really nice shot.

Possibly a bit tight on the tail, but a good capture, when on a limited time scale. I agree with Ray regarding the light working in your favour.

John Lee

Yep, definitely had the light with this shot - one of the only moments it burst through the clouds that afternoon.

Thanks everyone for your feedback

Very nice indeed! Yes, it would have been even better with a neutral background, but I'd love to have taken it!