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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Marcel" data-source="post: 216916" data-attributes="member: 3903">One thing I wonder about, were the OP's posted pictures cropped? I suspect they have been severely cropped and when you get to 1600 ISO with a D90, cropping doesn't help and the images degrades very quickly. So you might want to get a longer lens (beware, they are rather expensive) and fill the frame, or try to.But the main thing I'd like to mention to the original poster is that when you are shooting in the shade in low light situation, there is simply not enough contrast and light to define the birds. If you want crisp clear pictures of birds, you have to have good light. This is why some people that specialize in birding will have remote flash setup to give some depth to their shots. You simply cannot get detail and colour sharpness in low light low contrast situations. No camera can capture light that is not there. And the most important element of photography is light. Let's just not forget it. So, if you want to go and watch birds when it's grey and raining outside, please do, but don't count of capturing an award winning shot with your camera, whatever camera model you own.So please take my post with a grain of salt. I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but only trying to put a little bit of reality back into our desires to create the  photographic masterpiece. Without the light, it's impossible to create it.Enjoy your Nikons!</blockquote>