An unexpected find..

A bird of prey that blends well with its environment..
It was a normal routine. Walk the dogs and get them worked out and at the same time, get some exercise.
My home has a simple 1.5km loop which is ideal for walking the dogs. By the time they get home, the kids would be zonked.
So, there I was, walking the Huskies and when I passed this heavily foliaged area, I noticed the outline of a large bird. 
It was perched on a branch, and the lighting conditions were extremely horrible.
Right up there in the backlight (about 50metres in distance) I noticed a raptor.
The first thing I did, was to bring the kids back, then mount on my Canon EF400mm F5.6L lens onto my full-frame Canon EOS5DmkIII body.
I also hauled along my EX430 flash gun and a 1.4x teleconverter.
This is one shot that I wouldn't want to miss.

Majestic raptor: The Crested Serpent Eagle

 There couldn't have been a better moment. 
When I got back to the spot, the raptor was still perched on the tree.
I capped off a few shots with my flash as a fill-in light.
The odds were stacking as I utilized my camera's aperture priority settings.
I knew that by stepping down the flash synch to 1/125, I would get a decent fill light.
But, with only manual focusing on hand with the 1.4x teleconverter mounted, I had a good chance of scoring a decent shot which is in focus and nail the extra details.
When I tried to move in closer, the eagle dismounted and flew off.
I had eight frames captured and had to contend with the results.
Next, I worked on the post-processing on the Adobe Lightroom 4.
The results was satisfying.
Although it could be better, that was the best I can do.
The Crested Serpent Eagle is number two on my record after capturing the Black-winged Kite in Sekinchan two weeks ago.