Kendrix: This shot reveals the one before as having been from Shinji's POV as he is glancing upwards, he probably heard the birds flying away, and thought he could continue staring at Rei/asking himself who she is and why she's there later... Id'd like to highlight the drama here: She appears before him one last time, and he's busy with some birds because, at this point, she's just a random chick to him.
(Reminds me of a certain Doctor who episode that got much, much more tearjerking in hindsight)
thewayneiac: If Rei has, in fact, transcended time at this point, concepts like first time and last time would be meaningless.