Question about birds in flight?

For you Ottawa Ontario people, I live in a high rise in the middle of the Experimental Farm. I frequently have seen a Merlin flying around looking for supper(pigeons) but every time I try to take pics of him flying, they are not that great. What would be the best Aperture/Shutter for this type of shot?

If you check my flickr site you can see that I have caught him a few times but he was perched on a pole on Fisher Ave near Baseline road.

http://www.flickr.com/​photos/cdn_merlin

Thanks

Getting close or using a long lens is the first thing to do. Big birds aren't that hard to shoot if you hand hold or use a tripod with a ballhead. But it takes practice. A day or two of practice following moving objects will get you going. Cars, planes, people, anything that moves. Practice and work on your technique. You also need to know the camera and lens with your eyes closed. You need to be able to change settings without looking, from memory and little hesitation.

You will get better quite quickly, but you'll never stop polishing up your technique. That's half the fun of photography.

First things first, the "Merlin" you have on pages 2 and 3 is actually a Red-Tailed Hawk...but don't worry, the same principles photography-wise apply! You may want to shoot in "shutter priority" (TV mode) and set it to about 1/1000th sec. - and faster for smaller flightier birds. If the conditions are darker, use "aperture priority" (AV mode) and use a bigger aperture (smaller number such as f5.6, or 6.3). Practice panning techniques - Mitch has offered good target practice examples, but don't forget about Gulls. Very plentiful and perfect practice subjects for flight shots.

Gulls are good, and they sometimes cooperate of they think you got some food.

What I found really helpful is the use of a Bush Hawk which allowd me to shoot a lot more keepers as it provided more stabiiity---

http://www.bushhawk.co​m/

Thanks for the tips. As for my "Merlin" I looked him up in the 2 books I have and both according to them are Merlins and not a Red Tailed Hawk. This guy was not the height the book says the RTH was. He was about 11 inches only.

I have pics I haven't posted of him in flight but they are not the best. What is it about the bird that you think makes it a RTH? This way I cant know for next time.

If you want to photograph birds in flight, the first think I would suggest is to learn to consistantly make proper exposures in manual mode.

For shutter speed you should try to get at least 1/800 for larger slower birds and at least 1/1600 for smaller faster birds. There are exceptions to this, but these are good rules of thumb. More shutter speed is better.

The Merlin on your site is indeed a Red-tailed Hawk.

I hope this helps.

Agreed, that's no merlin.

Red tailed hawk for me as well. Size is not a good field mark in the field...unless you have a Merlin and Red tail together

Thanks for the tips on the RTH. Now I know how to tell them apart.