Evolution of a Photograph

• The following photograph was taken at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm a couple of weeks ago.  The subject is a pair of fledgling egrets (siblings). This is how it came out of the camera.  Please click on the photos to view larger versions.I was attracted to it because I liked the spread wing of egret no. two and the juxtaposition of the two egret’s heads.  If you look closely you will also see what I did not like.  The color balance is too cool.  The focus is on egret no. two leaving egret no. one out of focus.  (It’s in the eyes.)  The twig over bird no. two is distracting.  The birds were in the shade with a little of the dappled sunlight behind the wing.  There is even a fly on the twig.  See here: I did the following:
• Found another photo in the sequence that had egret no. one in focus and substituted her upper body;
• Warmed the color balance, set the black point, set the white point and increased the vibrance and sharpening;
• Remove the twig and the fly;
• Cropped the photo; and
• Flipped horizontally.

The final photo is as follows.The photo would look better if the foliage in the background was more out-of-focus.  Every time I try that it looks obvious and worse so I left it as is.  The dirt spots on the wing are real.  Would love to hear advice on how to improve the photo.   Thanks.