First Birding Attempt

[Xia_Ke]

Yep, I now have a huge, new found respect for bird photography...LOL Today was the first real time I have gone out and concentrated on shooting birds. Things learned:

1. Damn those little guys are fast. Got so frustrated at not being able to set up fast enough on the tripod, I ended up shooting freehand.
2. Judging by my hand shake, I may have a medical condition...LOL
3. Probably should practice more in open fields before going into the woods. Hard trying to shoot through tree branches

Anyway, all joking aside, here's a few of my shots that I thought came out okay. Shot freehand, with my D50 and a 300mm f/4.5 MF lens. Now I realize these could be cleaned up a bit more in Photoshop but, how did I do otherwise? Also, can anybody ID these little guys? I'm in Southern Maine if that helps with the ID'ing.