WI wildlife photos

[ss13]

I am new to photography. I have a Nikon D5100 and was recently gifted a 400mm manual focus lens. Here are the first photographs I took with my new "old" glass. What do you guys think? Looking for input on how I can improve. If anyone is wondering the photos are from Lake Michigan in Milwaukee.

 

[ceeboy14]

For me, there's nothing wrong with the glass, but the very out of focus foregrounds are bothersome to my old eyes. Try getting those guys in more open water, close down your aperture a bit or bumpt the ISO so you can and add some depth to the images.