Peck On The Cheek

It was dull by the time I went out, despite being 90°F. A chance of rain, but none came our way. I saw the male, with its distinctive quaff, way in the distance. Even through the lens he looked small. Then I saw the pair fly onto a branch. I had seen cedar waxwings in a previous year, but only briefly, so I was quite excited to see them now.

They began a dance, pecking together as if kissing. But I failed to catch them mid peck and this image of one recoiling turned out best. Must get used to using high speed burst! Then they turned back to back and moved progressively to either end of the branch before flying off.

Given the crop, I tried Topaz Sharpen, but I felt the result left the birds looking cutout. I much prefer this version using the newer Topaz Photo AI which is more natural. I found out though it processes the whole original raw image and not the cropped and processed version. So I had to reapply my edits afterwards.