Nuthatch Image Comparison - New vs Old - Another Fresh Look

Nikon D750, Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 @ 460mm, 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 400 

This post will look at an image already processed and posted in Dec and what I did to it after another look today.  I have liked it for the sharpness and detail provided but the busy background has bothered me from the start.  Now, of course, if you go back and read that post you'll note that most of the images there were taken during heavy cloud cover and/or fog conditions.  As such, I did not do a lot of tweaking because I was trying to make a point for the performance of the 200-500mm lens I had just acquired.  Now, after some time has passed, I saw this image again and wondered what improvements I could make.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 @ 460mm, 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 400 

I started by resetting the image to default settings in Lightroom and then applied the flat camera calibration filter.  Next, I increased Exposure Compensation quite a bit, tweaked the Tone Curve some, added some Vibrance and a touch of Contrast.  Sharpening was left at default but I moved the Masking slider to 29.  After these steps I cropped it and used the Adjustment Brush to add sharpening and a little clarity to the bird and then painted the background with a reduction in adjustments to exposure, contrast, and sharpness.  In other words, I moved the sliders for these parameters to the left to reduce their effect.  

I certainly am more pleased with the reworked image at the top than the original.  Wonder what I'll think about it after a couple more months?  Will I still be pleased with it or want to make more adjustments?  Time will tell.