A good looking couple there Brendan. I really like the overall pallette of blues, but I have to agree with Ron on the surf line at the top of the frame. Excellent job handling the off-angle lighting - the bird's positions are just right for the angle. I do wish the bird on the left had his head turned a little more toward the camera. You might consider adding a catchlight to the left eye of the bird on the right.
Brendan, good call on the f-stop. I am liking the shadows on the beach a lot. And also the BG. Only issue is the light angle w.r.t the right bird as it has put the eye in the shade. Always hard to get two good head positions....and esp. here they are so close that merge would also be hard to avoid.
Much thanks for the comments & suggestions - good things to keep in mind for future.
Added a catch light to bird on rt. I debated about upper part of the BG, but decided to keep it and just did touch up and light burn on a few areas.