Preston,
no, I left the 1.4X at home for this shoot. Wanted to see the native resolution of the lens even if it meant I couldn't get as close as I really needed to. Some of these are pretty severe crops and yet they seem to hold up pretty well.

I'm really starting to love that lens. If I can just force myself to use it on a tripod, it will turn out some truly sharp images. I really have to improve my wildlife technique. However, I find it hard to move stealthily with the camera/lens mounted on a tripod. Of course, that could be an excuse for just being too darned stubborn to change my shooting habits .

Jim