About the Image(s)

I had overlooked this photo on my first round of selections. It was taken in the harsh light of day along the Chobe River in Botswana. Image was taken with OM1 Mark2 with 150-400 mm at a focal length of 188mm (376 full frame) - 1/4000sec, f5.6, and iso 1600. I had been shooting birds and did not chage my camera settings. Ok but not optimized...I wish I had halved the speed and doubled the aperture.
The color image is the safety shot as it represents what was seen. The B&W is same image converted to soft sepia.
What reasons do you prefer one over another?