New guy in town

[Ally]

Caught him loitering under my feeder.  I think he is not from around here. He is bigger than a house sparrow, smaller than a Cardinal. I know because they happen to feed together.

[Ally]

Fox Sparrow?  

[Shortsighted]

How about that.
Now you are answering your own inquiries.
You are the full package, self-serve!
You are very lucky to have a Fox sparrow visit your estate.
Nice ground shot. So very down-to-earth.
Well done.

[Shortsighted]

You are having that hyper-contrast problem again.
I tried to compensate in one of your Fox sparrow shots;

[Ally]

Wow, is that even my photo? How ever did you do that?

[Shortsighted]

I did not crop your photo because it was not completely in focus. Cropping it would make this immediately evident. I reduced contrast with the PS levels control and then again with the brightness/contrast control. I then dodged into the deepest shadows for detail that is buried but not so much as to create notable artifacts. I then lightened all mid-tones and finally brightened the highlights in the shadow area but not in the brightest areas. I then sharpened the bird and blurred the background.
I then applied HDR (high dynamic range) a feature I didn’t think would benefit this photo but it did work fairly well. Were you shooting in low light? What ISO? What shutter speed? What F-stop? High ISO has a narrower exposure latitude and creates more contrast in the image. The out-of-focus result may have been due to slow shutter speed, although your Sigma lens does have OS (optical stabilization).

[Ally]

I did not crop your photo because it was not completely in focus. Cropping it would make this immediately evident. I reduced contrast with the PS levels control and then again with the brightness/contrast control. I then dodged into the deepest shadows for detail that is buried but not so much as to create notable artifacts. I then lightened all mid-tones and finally brightened the highlights in the shadow area but not in the brightest areas. I then sharpened the bird and blurred the background.
I then applied HDR (high dynamic range) a feature I didn’t think would benefit this photo but it did work fairly well. Were you shooting in low light? What ISO? What shutter speed? What F-stop? High ISO has a narrower exposure latitude and creates more contrast in the image. The out-of-focus result may have been due to slow shutter speed, although your Sigma lens does have OS (optical stabilization).

I used sports mode, so automatic. The photo is taken 1/1000, F6.3 ISO 6400

[Shortsighted]

,So, 1/1000 sec is fast enough to prevent motion blur from either the photographer or the bird.
Even without OS it should be fast enough. The poor dynamic range and loss of tonal detail stems
from the ISO of 6400. The faster the sensor speed the poorer the tonal detail. You would need to
drug me before I would shoot at 6400. My camera sucks at that ISO. Maybe the latest camera mark 5
can handle it but not the older and cheaper DSLRs. PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT AT AUTO MODE.
Use Av mode and get to know it well.

[Ally]

,So, 1/1000 sec is fast enough to prevent motion blur from either the photographer or the bird.
Even without OS it should be fast enough. The poor dynamic range and loss of tonal detail stems
from the ISO of 6400. The faster the sensor speed the poorer the tonal detail. You would need to
drug me before I would shoot at 6400. My camera sucks at that ISO. Maybe the latest camera mark 5
can handle it but not the older and cheaper DSLRs. PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT AT AUTO MODE.
Use Av mode and get to know it well.

Sir. Yes sir!

[Shortsighted]

One other thing soldier ... assuming you can handle the truth ...
When you find it necessary to use a higher then desirable ISO setting (because it is the only way to increase your shutter speed) to almost ensure that your chosen bird is not suffering from motion blur then resist that temptation.  Shooting at an auto setting, such as “sports” does not let you intervene. At the “Av” setting you are in control. If you decide that f6.3 (wide open) provides an adequate depth-of-field then you set that and the shutter speed will adjust itself and you can see that in your viewfinder. If that shutter speed seems too low, even with “OS” on-board, try to resist cranking the ISO to really high levels, shoot slower but do so in short bursts. Chances are that at least one shot of that burst will be sharp despite the slow shutter speed and that sharp image will have all the benefits of a lower ISO (less noise, more colour latitude, wider exposure latitude, more tonal detail and therefore less severe contrast.

As you were.