You know, I think that picture looks very different in better light and with a warmer WB--I could imagine conditions where the thatch of the duck's nest "pops" out of the background. Of course, if you're a rambler like me, the chances of you and that light intersecting at a given point in time is pretty low.
One other thing you might think about is using a longer focal length to collapse the planes of the picture and to bring the nest (if that's your "point of interest") into the foreground--a 70mm FL and a three or four shot pano might be give interesting results. You might look up some of the pictures that baro-nite has posted on PF...he's got some of a cypress swamp that might be food for thought.