How best to shoot small backyard BIF?

I've been playing around trying to capture shots of small birds at my feeders. They are so fast that one can't pan and shoot as one would with larger BIF so I've been experimenting with extracting frames from video shot with shutter speed 1/2500 on my 60D. The shots reveal some wing motions and amazing feather spread that one would never see otherwise, but the trouble is the max resolution is still only 1920x1080 even if I managed to fill the frame. Any suggestions? I don't want to invest in an elaborate flash and trigger setup.

I am able to get quite close (5-10') and these cropped shots were taken with just a 50mm lens, so I obviously need to get, say, a 200mm, but that still won't get me higher resolution unless I shoot stills, when I'd be really lucky to catch a bird at all, even using continuous shots (and the shutter noise then alarms the birds).

Have the camera set up on a tripod, aimed at a spot thru which the birds fly. Use a remote shutter release. Have the camera set to the fastest burst mode. Pre-focus the lens at the distance the birds are most likely to be at when they fly thru the frame. When the bird approaches the area covered by the frame, push the shutter release and hold it down, not letting go until the bird has flown thru the area covered by the frame. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat . . . .

The shutter noise will not disturb the birds, as you think.

To help with light, you can set up a reflector, or use a steady light (not flash) and shine it on the area covered by the frame. This usually does not spook the birds. When birds are conditioned to a feeder, disruptions in the micro-environment seldom spook them, especially once the items have been there for a few days and the birds have gotten used to them. Sometimes the birds get completely used to introduced disturbances within just an hour or two.

Thanks, Tom, for your expertise. Given our current weather and temperature I may get a longer remote cable or a wireless one and work it from the comfort of indoors. Re shutter noise, I've found in the past that even a singe click does spook some birds at the feeder, mainly the warier ones such as Northern Flicker, but I agree that chickadees and siskins can get used to anything.

There are some that have put in a ton of effort into back yard and out In the wild BIF and there the ones to invest some time talking to. Friend of mine Alex Borbely check him out. https://www.flickr.com​/photos/bad_air/

Friend of mine Alex Borbely check him out. https://www.flickr.com​/photos/bad_air/[/QUOT​E]
There's really some awesome photography in there!! Very impressive. I'd sure like to see his set-up.

Definitely on the mark there. And he's not kidding about the amount of acclimation that these birds'll have at the feeder. I nearly take a Chickadee to the melon every time I wander out to fill the silly thing up; they get pretty fearless when they're not threatened around the feeder.

Snydremark wrote in post #17371664
.... he's not kidding about the amount of acclimation that these birds'll have at the feeder.....

You have that right! While I'm still holding the feeder after filling it with sunflower seeds I get chickadees and even red-breasted nuthatches landing on it, and even my arm. I could probably get some good shots with a 17mm lens if I could manage to operate the camera in one hand

It can be done lol,...shot with a 50 1.8

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ibvx​Vc

Cliffbsa wrote in post #17371621
Friend of mine Alex Borbely check him out. https://www.flickr.com​/photos/bad_air/
There's really some awesome photography in there!! Very impressive. I'd sure like to see his set-up.

lol he shoots Nikon kinda sad really lol

Cliffbsa wrote in post #17371621
Friend of mine Alex Borbely check him out. https://www.flickr.com​/photos/bad_air/
There's really some awesome photography in there!! Very impressive. I'd sure like to see his set-up.

Very funny Cliff

[QUOTE=Pondrader;17375​939]It can be done lol,...shot with a 50 1.8 ..../QUOTE]

Very nice - I can see I should dig out my own "nifty fifty" and give it a try

[QUOTE=teekay;17376049​]

Pondrader wrote in post #17375939
It can be done lol,...shot with a 50 1.8 ..../QUOTE]

Very nice - I can see I should dig out my own "nifty fifty" and give it a try

thats the one lol the hardest part is you can't see what your shooting till it's all over

Pondrader wrote in post #17376059
.....the hardest part is you can't see what your shooting till it's all over

...or figuring what do do when the subject is more interested in the camera than its nicely focused food!

lol