A fast shutter speed is needed to capture sharp images of birds in flight, especially speedy birds like wood ducks. This image of a drake wood duck was shot at 1/1000 second using a Nikon D300 camera and 600 mm Nikkor lens. Just keeping a fast moving bird in the frame is difficult. It takes a lot of practice. I employed a solid tripod and Wimberley Version II tripod head, a great aid for tracking photo subjects in action. When photographing birds in flight be prepared to shoot a lot images to get just a few "keepers."