The final step on this acrylic painting was to layer on top OILS.  This is how I brought in the lighting that perked this painting up and brought it to a finished state.  As you can see I lightened the sky even more in the background and let the light touch the edges of the birds.  Because the birds were a darker value they popped forward.  This is really such a fun stage.
Now all that's needed is a title and final finish.  I left that off to take the photos because it's too shiny.
Below are the different steps: