Thanks Tom, glad you enjoy them.
For me, I tend not to use a tripod whenever I'm shooting - it's all handheld. I've got a feeder in my backyard that always has sparrows hovering around it and it's there that I started to practice. I'm only shooting with a 300mm lens that isn't the fastest thing in the planet but it gets the job done until I can afford some better glass.
Also, I'm always shooting in Aperture Priority mode as it helps pick the best shutter speed relative to the amount of light that is present. For instance in shot #1 the bird was stationary with the sun hitting its breast/belly area and the only movements it was making was following insects in its immediate area.
For shots #2 and #3 there was a lot of "action" involved as these swallows are the quickest birds I've ever seen. Shot #2 was taken with the sun at my back but there was still a bit of a shadow being cast given the location of the bird in relation to the bird box. After attempting a couple of shots which were underexposed, I adjusted my AV setting accordingly and managed to get the shot I was looking for. Shot #3 was backlit but I was fortunate enough that the bird turned towards me to give me enough white for the camera to pick up and focus on.
Probably the best piece of advice I could give you is the same that was given to me - just get out there and shoot as much as you can, because you'll only learn through trial and error. The joy of shooting with any DSLR is that it gives you the opportunity to play with so many different settings to get the exact shot that you're looking for.
Cheers, and good shooting.
