Cedar Waxwing - poor sky condition

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Numerous Cedar waxwings were in the area, but the sky, where they were and were I could get to was difficult. Tried to focus on the bird as the subject against the sky and dark pine background. Photo has been clipped keeping the original ratio to remove some of the sky and center the bird a bit better. Thanks for your suggestions.

What technical feedback would you like if any? Composition, lighting, how do you handle these conditions?

What artistic feedback would you like if any? How to better present the subject and any other suggestions.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn) Nikon D3500, 300mm focal length, f/8, 1/500 sec, Apature Priority, ISO 800. As I mentioned, photo has been clipped to remove a bit of the sky and left side of the photo,

CedarWaxwing_00001
CedarWaxwing_000014689×3126 4.17 MB

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2

Nice composition, Mike. I like the placement of the Waxwing in the frame. The background is a tough one, but these birds do have a habit of hanging out pretty high up and creating difficulty for the photographer. I applaud the results you managed with 300 mm-most of us wouldn’t try for this small a bird with less than 500 unless it happened to pop up really close. If you know of any ripe berries in the area, you might stake them out to see if you can catch one of these lower down and closer in.