What a difference perspective makes...
This guy was so calm (and probably overheated, judging from his beak and tongue gaping. FYI, this is the same heron from the previous post panning shot as he flew by.) that I was able to walk around and shoot him from both sides of the sunlight.
HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW ƒ/8.0 230.0 mm 1/640 iso160
I like the background bokeh balls in the first shot, from shooting more into the sun, but I had to work the shadows in PP to make it work. This shot on the other hand, I like the subject clarity better and just had to be careful not to blow the highlights of the white feathers etc. It's always some compromise, isn't it?
HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW ƒ/8.0 160.0 mm 1/640 iso200