Wow, thanks for that link! There were so many branches around, it was impossible to get a clear shot without them :(, I'll try to clone some out and see if that improves the cluttered look at least. Thanks for the comments and the suggestion for a tripod, I hope Santa has heard my wish for one :).
A simple, uncluttered composition could help this shot a lot. The twigs make the shot busy, confusing to the eye, and not interesting. You can make these types of shots work. Check out this photographer's ability to make a simple composition work so well:
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