Off-topic
You need just FP license to make fine contrast work in PL.
FP installation is needed only if you use FP GUI (and then you have duplicates in PL and FP installation directories). All FP settings code is already in PL. For example, I have an older FP7 installation , so Fuji digital film rendering is still available in FP GUI, while it’s gone in PL8.5.
With my long-time birding lens, a Pentax DA 55-300, I found that f/8 was sharpest, so I always shot at that. It means pushing the ISO and dealing with some noise, but we know how to deal with that!
This one too. But there’s not much difference. It’s the SSM and @HGF has the SSM II. But the difference is only the motor as I believe.
Unlike Nikon the embedded jpg in the RAW file is only 1616x1080.
I did a reset and applied the No Corrections preset.
George
@George , I guess, the lense is not the problem. Maybe there is no problem, just limitations. Startet from the beginning, No Corrections preset. Only optical corrections preset is making it much more sharpen in a 100% view. Plus Deep Prime XD is delivering the optimum for this image. However, the result of my comparisons is, aperture of 10 seems to be optimized.
Or the monopod you used. It only stabilizes for the vertical movement. If you keep it vertical 
I have been looking at the Makernotes in your image. It seems that Sony is recording the status of 95 AF-points. None of them are in focus. I don’t know exactly what it means but it might be valuable for further investigation.
He uses large branches for his nest.
George
In my understanding, this means none of them are in use. What is strange, because one at least should be used.
To compare, attached another RAW file.
2025_04_19_Milan_0405.ARW (23,7 MB)
AFPointsUsed: C6, D6, I5
E5 was used, but out of focus.
This is the other image
George
@George , yes, I’m using ExifToolGui too and I can see the same. I guess, I need to digg deeper in what the tags are and what the values are telling us. Thanks for your effort! Regards HG
George’s comment “It seems the halos are from PL” prompted me to revisit your image.
When you disable “Lens Sharpness Optimization” in the unprocessed version, the bird appears soft, surrounded by a very soft halo (check at 100%).
After re-enabling DxO’s lens correction, remnants of that halo appear as scattered pixels, which I then tried to remove …
.
Here’s the finished version I exported from VC 2
using mainly these settings
and the clone tool.
.
note
This effort does not turn an unsatisfactory picture into a “masterpiece.” But it can save it for a small-format reproduction.
@Wolfgang , this is a really good exercise to me, thank you very much. It’s unbelievable how strong DxO is. It’s just a matter of using the right tool against a specific issue with the right finger tip feeling. To me never came the idea to use the clone tool to eliminate the halos. 
regards HGF
