I like it very much, specially the the fact that one can apreciate the claws, although in stead of just desaturating the red eyes I would've taken them to plain black. Nice shot still. Congrats!
Thanks everyone. Doug, I'm not sure I like the eyes going so dark... seems to kind of suck the life out if it. I also didn't mind the leaves in the upper left you removed.. they kind of communicate that these guys are usually hidden in the trees, and it sort of explained the shadow on top of the head.
I do agree with Lance that the leaves in the upper right are distracting, but not sure how to best deal with them. I can't really crop it any tighter on the top or right, so I am left with either leaving them, or a complete PS retouch.
Not an easy setting to photograph the owl. I like the eye contact and snake. The pupil should be darker for my taste. I find the OOF leaves a bit distracting but can see your reasoning. Thanks for sharing!