A stunning bird in flight

On my Pantanal trip in Brazil, it is typical that my group sees and photographs at least 50 different species of birds. The goal -- at least for me -- is to capture them in flight. This is a sunbittern. When its wings are folded, it's a pretty bird but nothing particularly special. But when it flies or stretches its wings, the pattern and color of the wings are stunning. I took this shot from a moving boat, so I was lucky I got a sharp image. The original background was out of focus foliage, and that worked, but I wanted something different. Therefore, I carefully selected the bird and replaced the background with a river scene photographed in the same area. I like the sense of environment and the fact that everything is sharp. This isn't common because we always use telephoto lenses for bird photography. My settings were 1/800, f/7.1, and 1600. The shutter speed should have been faster, but I was still happy with the results. I used a Canon 500mm f/4 telephoto for the shot. My next Pantanal trip to photograph exotic birds, jaguars, caiman, and more is November, 2021.