Have mentioned in "Birds" about image processing & so thought I'd have a go at explaining a little of how it's done.
I'm far from being an expert, but will show those that want to know as best I can.
(there are those that can tell us how it could be done better [the photo & processing] but it's like getting blood out of a stone to get input from the pros on Lamma)

Was a difficult shot to get right........ in fairly bright light.......... needed to get the blacks & whites on a darkish background without blowing the whites, so needed to compromise the blacks a little.
Set the metering on spot & aimed at the white.
Set the exposure compensation on Auto & adjusted at -0.3
Needed a fast enough shutter speed as the bird kept moving, & enough F stop to get the DOF for when he stood face on & needed F 6.3 to get some reverse DOF to try & get the tail in focus in this shot.

Trouble is.........., the image is a little dark, the leaf in the bottom left is out of place, and the light branches in the background don't fit. Sharpness is ok, but could be better........
This is the original image cropped to suit (a little space behind the tail, more in front of the head for the bird to look into, some space below the feet & a slightly greater amount above the head) - cropped size was 1806 x 1216, but have reduced the size to 650 x 437 for the benefit of this forum & will work on the 650 size........


Nikon D70s w/Nikkor 300mm F/4
2006/03/11 12:10:50.1
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering Mode: Spot
1/125 sec - F/6.3
Exposure Comp.: -0.3 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Optimize Image: Normal
White Balance: Auto
AF Mode: AF-C

May as well get rid of the leaf straight away..........

Get the "clone" tool.......... set it to size of about "20", edge at "100" & Density at about "50"
The branch will be going slightly away & out of focus.
Set the "anchor" of the clone tool on the line of the branch, and the "circle" at the edge of the leaf........... then just clone away the leaf.