Was this quite a large crop or were you using high ISO? The BG looks a little grainy. It could do with a bit of smoothing. The Wood pigeon itself needs another round of sharping – it is looking a bit soft. Taking photos into a bright sky usually ends up with the sky exposed correctly and the underside of the bird too dark. To overcome this you you should dial some exposure compensation. To get the bird exposed correctly here you would probably have to dial in +1EV or thereabouts. You could also get the same affect by doing a bit of PP in PS.
Thanks Acroperos.
I didn’t crop this by much but the ISO was 400. He was travelling at speed & I was glad that I even managed this shot. Looking at it again, you are absolutely correct about the sharpness & exposure. I must get more practice in for this type of shot. Cheers. :D
Miki,you are correct practise is essential but reading is also very useful. You should read The art of Photography by Arthur Morris it is the bible for those of us who want to take good photos of birds.
Keep it up and things will improve and even if they don’t if you enjoy what you do getting a good shot is just a bonus