This has been a good conversation. Thank you @buddingphotographer for your detailed comments.
Seagulls are common so it’s easy to shoot them in common environments with a “snap-shot” look. I’ve seen dozens and dozens of seagull snapshots and almost don’t want to take pictures of seagulls any more because they remind me of the snapshots I see all the time (and even take myself at times). But when they are that close . . . it’s hard to resist.
The first one doesn’t look nearly as snapshot-like because there is a very clear background of clouds without a cluttered shoreline. Gray skies are common at the beach so it’s good that the sky is blue.
The composition is very much center-weighted and the two birds almost merge together into one. Our eyes see shapes first, and the two seagulls combined don’t great a seagull-looking shape. If they were separate from each other, it would be much better.