I Suck at Birds in Flight Photography

I tried to photograph the birds around my feeder again this weekend.  It didn't go well.  I took lots of exposures, but even Spray and Pray failed again.  I suck at Bird in Flight photography.  I want to change that.

It is easy to lose focus in the heat of the moment.  To paraphrase an often quoted saying " When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that your objective was to photograph the swamp."  I had plenty of birds flocking around the feeder and I brought home hundreds of photos that were not worth saving.  If Spray and Pray doesn't work, what will?

I made an important decision.  I decided to develop a way to score my BIF photos so I could measure them with a better standard than "this photo sucks".  After much thought, I came up with a ten point checklist to use as a standard.

10 Point BIF Scoring Checklist	Point	Comment
Is there adequate detail.  Noise? Focus? Is the body sharp?
Is the exposure good? Has motion been arrested?  Are the wings sharp
Does lighting enhance the image?
Is the bird in an interesting pose? Are the wings spread?
Did I make good use of the frame? Is the frame free of distractions?
Does color enhance the image?
Does the background contribute to the image?  Color?  Depth?
Is this bird a good subject?  Young and beautiful?  Ugly, ragged and missing feathers?  In mating plumage - sexy?
Does the bird look alive and engaged?  Eye sharp? Catchlight?
Is the bird doing something interesting?  Is it interacting with a mate, offspring, friends, enemies or the environment?

If a photo scores 10 on this scale, it will be a pretty good BIF photo.  If it doesn't, I have some specific things to work on.