I love how the background is blurred..

It is an interesting picture but you are correct it would be improved with some expert cropping. I looked at the other pictures in your gallery and I can see that you are the expert who can crop this picture and make it a top notch bird capture. You have some very good pictures in your gallery, thanks for sharing them. Karl :o)

I think I'd like the cropping better too, because the poor little bird is almost overwhelmed by all those branches. However, aside from that the picture is well-focused and quite lovely!

An admission: a comment request brought me here and I do my best, but I'm not a photographer (nor an artist, but I do dabble in abstracts, at least!). Everything I say should therefore be understood as heavily qualified!

I feel on relatively solid ground in this case, actually, because I largely agree with the comments about the cropping. I like the way this includes both in focus branches at the front and blurred branches behind. It includes the bird's setting but without allowing it to distract. The distracting part will be addressed with cropping, I assume - there's just too much of it compared with the bird which is getting lost here. It is a bit of a shame that there is so much browny-blur behind the bird (as opposed to more blue) because that is also making the bird harder to distinguish. I'm not sure you'd have much success asking it to move along the branch, though, so I don't know if there's anything much you could do about this (other than cloning background but I'm not sure how easy that would be).

Nice subject, though. I'm not usually a fan of bird/flower shots, but I like this one because it seems to be a real picture focused on a bird rather than a bird and some other stuff which one suspects the photographer would have preferred to disappear! I really like the tree branches, even though cropping is essential. I think they make this picture (for me) - and will still do so in the improved cropped version (assuming you don't completely crop them which seems unlikely).

- cfr

I love it.Nice shot.thanks for share.xx

I ditto everything that's been said about cropping. However, uncropped, this would make a GREAT jigsaw puzzle :-))) Actually I enjoy the art of cropping, not just because I've never been able to afford a long lens, but it gives me the illusion of more control! That said, I LIKE this shot even uncropped. The tangle of branches with that wee bird in the middle creates a good composition. Kind of like trying to spot a small bird in real life.
mary

this one is lovely as well mike!
she sat so still for you!!