Question on taking photos of birds
its not an easy thing to do it takes practice . need to practice panning. if you are close you can use all focusing points if far you are going to use center point. the biggest thing is that you need a good lens that auto focus fast. In my opinion a bird flying in distance you need some back ground not just the sky to make it interesting. A little blurring is also good to show movement. 
* Camera in manual mode so that I can control shutter speed, iso and aperture
* Focus mode is A1 Servo (Canon camera)
* Single focus point .... don't want multiple points picking something unusual or another bird that happens to pass by as the focus point
* Allow the lens to autofocus ... work hard to get the focus point on the bird's eye
* Camera on a tripod .... While I do photograph a lot of birds in flight hand held it is easier from a tripod with a good ball head or gimbal (I use a gimbal head)
* Practice practice practice ..... Some birds are easier than others .... swallows will / can cause much stress! LOL. Try seagulls for starters .... they are just about everywhere, even your local landfill.
Camera / lens settings for this image ..... Bonaparte's Gull
Focal length = 500mm
ISO = 320
Shutter speed = 1/1250
Aperture = f/8.0
Bob Howdeshell
"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera" ~ Lewis Hine
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