Hi Chris, I agree, the branches can be infuriating! another thing I noticed when I used to shoot a lot of birds is that they invariably know how to place themselves between you & the sun! They are then backlit and it makes the shot that much harder to capture..sigh. Here's one I took several years back, there is a pair of hawks that nest on the State Office Building in Hartford CT. this was taken out a 5th floor window, mama was just returning to the nest with breakfast for the hawklings, what I didn't see was that daddy hawk was watching me from across the street and damm near got me! :)
(http://www.pbase.com/keving/image/43255344.jpg)