Now you are getting the idea. Ok, just a couple of things.
If you are going to be shooting this little guy on a regular bases you might consider the following when he/she is out gathering food.
1. Cut or break off the screw poking up through the board. I'm sure he will appreciate it, and so will your photos.
2. Get out your little trimmers and trim away some the stray branches or pieces around the photo that only distract. Try to trim away enough so you can shoot from different positions. The red berries add color but also take away your attention, plus by next months they will probably have fallen away any way.
3. Maybe put some nuts or something up there to keep him in position eating while you shoot.

Your focus is right on and depth of field is good as the background doesn't detract from the image.

Keep up the good work, and keep shooting. This will make a nice spring and summer shot for you when you can surround him or the platform with green leafs.
For the heck of it, shoot him over the course of the winter if he hangs around. If there are others who visit the feeder like birds and the like shoot them too. This shot would really be cool if he was there right after a wet heavy snow covering all the branches etc.

Brit1958 has an excellent idea. For just starting out a refurbished or used camera may be well worth the money. Major stores like B&H, Adorama, Calumet et al have used equipment. Call B&H or Adorama and talk to one of their sales reps (Not an online order taker) and see what they may have in your price range. You are liable to get a good deal.

Speaking of cheaper. My wife is a teacher. You can go to:
www.Studica.com and buy at reduced prices. You do need proof that you are a student or teacher. I used a copy of one of her pay stubs. Letter on school stationary, student ID with current date, and other stuff will qualify. Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended, "teacher's/student's edition" $196.95
http://www.studica.com

Did a search at B&H photo & Video. Try this link:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Digital+Slave+Flash&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

They list a bunch of these units but the Sarka(sp) is discontinued.
BTW I think I read somewhere that Sarkar bought out Vivatar some years back. Maybe this is why their digital slaves are really poo-pooed in the reviews.

Hey, I just remembered. Years ago I bought a few Morris units when I first set up a studio and couldn't afford anything but clamp lights and a stick in a paint bucket of cement for light stands. The morris units did the job and were reliable. I just checked and I still have 2 of them!
Check out this link. I think you will find their little units reliable and worth the money.
http://www.themorriscompany.com/

JW...or anyone else.
Question...I have always used Photoshop since CS. What advantage for the average shooter is CS5 over Elements? For "Photography" I have hear you can do almost the same things. Anyone have a quick comparison why someone should use one or the other??

Photoshop Elements or Lightroom. You don't need Photoshop CS5 until you really get deep into editing as elements is good and is used almost exclusively by many camera clubs. I would almost bet Corel's Paint shop photo Pro woud be almost as good. My reasoning is they sell Painter 11 and it is the leader for doing photo art painting. Probably since they are almost the same price ~98.00 I would go with Photoshop as once you learn it you can move up to the Pro version CS5 if you really get into heavy editing. With Lightroom, I'll do my basic editing there and it will be good for about 90% of the images and then if necessary I take the image into Photoshop for more in depth editing.

What is a universal sync flash unit? If you are talking about the little slave trigger that fires your flash using a little light sensor, and the unit attaches to the hot shoe of your flash the answer is yes they work. BUT, I wouldn't use them out of doors, I wouldn't use them more than 20' from your flash, and they have to be in a direct line ofsite. I have several. A better alternative is Radio Slave triggers. Check out ebay, they have bunches to fit any pocket book.
If you are talking about just a cheap flash, they probably all will work but won't have all the bells and whistles. Check to be sure they are campatible with your cameral. Personally I use Vivitar 258HV's and have for years. $89.00 each.

There is nothing that holds a candle to Photoshop. It's the standard in the industry and will take years to learn.

What is the subject? What are you trying to say? Make your subject unequivocal, so when you look at the picture there is no doubt. It doesn't matter what the camera is; it's the photographer that makes the image.
Go to the library and check out some books on basic photography on what ever subject you care about. Copy the examples. Photography as a hobby is practice, practice, practice and.... My biggest suggestion is keep shooting.

Also...

Just cropped and sharpened a little.

Try this. Also when shooting get rid of that little stuff in the lower left corner.

CANON!...;)

Crop tighter, use a tripod, watch your focus and use manual focus if you can. Isolate your subject and get rid of anything that distracts. Next, it would help if you could give the camera model and some basic metadata ie; lens, focus distance, f-stop, shutter speed, etc. Metadata is included in the image file data. You can find it with your editing software.

My recommendation...Canon. Go to www.CanonUSA.com-->Consumer & Home Office. View All. Look at their EOS line. They start under $~600. and go to more than $6K. The Rebel line is where you will probably be. The T3i is their latest and comes as a kit. I Also recommend you check on line stores or places like Best Buy for lowest prices.

My recommendation...Canon. Go to www.CanonUSA.com-->Consumer & Home Office. View All. Look at their EOS line. They start under $~600. and go to more than $6K. The Rebel line is where you will probably be. The T3i is their latest and comes as a kit. I Also recommend you check on line stores or places like Best Buy for lowest prices.