I like the pose, eye contact and BG and wish the tail were completely sunlit. I see a color cast on my monitor and might be tempted to clone out the green OOF grass near the beak.
Interesting pose and warm light. I would apply more sharpening. I don't mind the BG. Is that the natural catchlight? As far as the composition goes, I would put him a little off center, perhaps a little higher in the frame?
Natural catchlight in late afternoon -no cropping since full frame scan so can be cropped .
I backed off on sharpening although I understand(read) scanned images need more sharpening than original digital images.
Thanks for looking and can not wait till spring again.