The Meadowlarks ran me around again this morning:). I was able to come home with a couple more flight images. This one is the best so far. Flying away but good BG:p
Camera Model: NIKON D300, handheld
Shutter speed: 1/2000 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 400
Lens: 80 to 400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Couldn't ask for a nicer BG! You'll get good wing position and eye contact if you keep at it; it's only a matter of time. Agree about cropping some off the bottom and perhaps a little off the left.
Wow. Im amazed that you could acquire focus on so a small, moving target with that background. What focus settings were you using? AMAZING! Meadowlarks in my area are incredibly hard to get near.