I like this a lot, Dave. The head turn and lighting on the eagle are interesting and the eye is excellent. I also like the slightly disheveled look that helps tell the story, particularly that one little tuft of feather on the breast.
I don’t know what kind of processing you do, but the background could use a bit of noise reduction and perhaps some extra blur to reduce the distraction from it. I do like it being generally brighter than the bird as it helps make the dark bird stand out.
I like the composition. You found a great subject, and the stare is very strong. Looks like the image quality has suffered quite a bit from a big crop. Also, was this underexposed? Bringing up the exposure can add a lot of noise. Tech-wise, I would have lowered the ISO. Even if the eagle were to fly, you wouldn’t need 1/4000 to freeze the action.