Thanks for your response. I live in New Zealand and we have only birds as our native animals (well, two quite rare bats are the only mammals). The birds generally inhabit bush, with a few in open tussock, so I need to have the ability to zero in on both the bird's eye and the point where I can meter the exposure.
Now, as you observe, that is quite different compared to static (or macro) imagery and configuring the C modes would, I think be an excellent solution to reconfigure your camera very quickly for these divergent subject types.
In the first image below, these birds flit a lot, and tend to inhabit deep, shadowy areas. I wanted to get the focus on the centre bird, so spot focus was perfect as there were intervening branches, and because the background was very bright relative to the actual birds, I spot metered on the birds themselves and locked that so I could compose and shoot. It was pretty much the same with all of these.
As regards very small subjects, the little fellow above is no more that about 12cm (5") from nose to tail, and I shot it through a plant and a sheet of glass in its incubator. It's an Elegant Green Gecko (AKI Auckland Green Gecko), also spot focused and metered and hand-held.
Sorry, that's just a Kea. The Mar part was because it was for this year's calendar in March! I shall fix that!
The Kea is the world's only Alpine Parrot, and because of it's harsh environment has become very intelligent. It is about as intelligent as a human infant. They can work cooperatively to solve puzzles, love to play, like to undo things (like bolts, nuts and screws) remove rubber from cars, let down tyres, and will eat your shoe laces if you leave your boots unattended, or even when wearing them! They are mischievous, and totally entrancing - my favourite bird.
