Always with birds, the photos are sharpest when they are facing the wrong way or when there are sticks or leaves in front of them. This was the most in-focus photo I got of this bird without anything in front of it, and it's the wrong way round. That bill's pretty impressive though!
It's a good photo even if the babbler wasn't cooperating! Everything you said is exactly correct in my experience - I ways get the best bird photos from behind! I forget how many species of scimitar-babblers there are in Asia because there's only one species that's found in North American Zoos (the Chestnut-backed Scimitar-Babbler, which, as far as I can tell, is only found at the San Diego Zoo currently).
