Austral parakeet

I associate brightly colored birds with the tropics, so this austral parakeet is a surprise in such a harsh climate as Patagonia. I photographed this bird in mid-morning with bright, direct sunlight, but I waited and hoped the parakeet would move behind the large tree trunk into a shaded area. That made the colors appear more intense -- contrary to the belief of most amateurs who think a bright sun makes colors brighter. The contrast created by harsh light works against an attractive color palette. I used a 100-500mm Canon zoom, and the settings were 1/800, f/6.3, and 3200 ISO. I find it interesting that my first digital camera, the Canon 1Ds Mark II, which cost $8000 in 2005, produced images at 3200 ISO that were so noisy they were essentially unusable. Now, 3200 ISO is commonplace and the images look great.