Vantage Point - SEO

Things have been pretty slow around here for wildlife and avian photography, thanks in large part to the near-constant high winds of late, so I decided to take another look through my 2011 files.

I almost processed and posted this image a half-dozen times last year, but could never quite decide if it "worked."

I really enjoy photographing animals in a way that shows their habitat, but this image always seemed like an "alomost" to me...except for the lines of the fence. For whatever reason, I really like the flow and variation of the posts and wires, and love the dusky feel to this shot.

The OOF foregound vegetation is slightly bothersome to me. I am normally very tolerant of such, but here it doesn't quite seem to work as well or at least seems to take away more than it gives...but it does keep the snow from running off the edge of the image and pulling the eye down from the owl and fence lines some.

This is a slight crop from the left and bottom. I actually like the full-frame as much or better, but the excessive OOF grasses compelled me to crop at least some of it away.

I have a twin shot with the owl looking back over his shoulder to his left (our right) which I like better as a pose, but with him on the right 1/3 already it doesn't give him much area to "look into."

What are your thoughts? Is this a keeper? Any suggestions for further improvement?

Many thanks...

Nikon D7000
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED with TC-14EII
ISO 200
1/500sec @ f/5.6 (mistakenly shot at -0.3EV instead of +0.3EV)
shot resting on truck roof for best available angle and support
blend of three exposure layers and slight adjustment to highlights and shadows in PS CS5