Hawk in flight

I'm going to chime in and offer my 2 cents worth. While I don't consider myself an expert, I do claim to be competent at bird photography.

Some great advice given already in this thread. I 100% agree with the 200 photos per day .... and learning to use your histogram and exif data in the photos. That way you figure out what works for you and your camera / lens combinations.

Robbie and John (Baydream) have also offered good advice, as usual.

Now for my methods .... I shoot 80-85% of the time in manual mode (not manual focus - manual mode). I want to control what the camera is doing, and not let the camera make the decisions. If not manual mode then I suggest aperture priority (AV for your camera)

I use my lenses in auto focus always for birds in flight (bif). I program my focus to be A1 Servo (not sure if your T3 has that feature .... check your manual) and select single point focus point ... not multiple focus points. It's too easy for the lens to catch on a piece of grass, stick, etc. when using multiple focus points.

As Robbie said ... put the focus point right on the bird's eye (the same applies to all critters ... deer, bear, fox, dogs, cats, etc. If the eye is tact sharp softness in other parts of the animal can be forgiven. If the eye is not sharp it doesn't matter about the rest of the animal / bird.

I prefer to set the aperture to between 6.3 and 8 when shooting bifs ... sometimes good light will allow even smaller apertures (bigger number).

When you get home you can look at your photos and check the image exif data ... by learning to review this you see what worked best for that day's conditions (light, bird flight speed, etc.) this applies to any photography.
Here's a good exif data article: Exif Data Article

Here's a link to "how to" photograph birds in flight by David Hemmings (a PT member here)
Photographing Birds in Flight

I have been very fortunate to have some great folks critique my early images (which may have made yours look like award winners) .... to my credit I was smart enough to listen and like Robbie read everything that I could find on the subject. I enjoy this forum because there are folks here that don't just say that an image is this or that, but they also offer advice.

Below is an example of an Osprey photo that I took, which is similar to yours. The exif data is as follows:
ISO - 200
AV (aperture) = f/8
Shutter speed = 1/2,000
Mode = Manual (again note ... manual mode / not manual focus)
Single point focus

wow thank you bhowdy that really helps and yes everybody has offered great advice I will take in all I can possibly absorb. K so manual mode but auto focus on the lens. I use manual mode but also have been using manual focus. I will try it, I'm so thankful for all the help. and no longer discouraged but very encouraged thank you all so much.

bhowdy I read both those articles thank you so much. great information can't wait to get out and put the great info to use.

lesanne45 wrote: ... I'm so thankful for all the help. and no longer discouraged but very encouraged thank you all so much.