Thanks Percy.

Yup, the camera is a brand new Canon 30D, an 8.2megapizel digital SLR. Not the top of the line for Canon, but not far from it.

The lens is definately an add on. The camera comes out of the box without a lens, so you normally have to buy all the glass separately, unless you buy a camera and lens "kit".

The lens I used for these shots is a Sigma brand, 105mm. Actually a Macro lens, but it will also focus out to infinity. And it's a fast f2.8 aperture, which allows for fast shutter speeds which makes pictures like the bombing run in #1 possible.

The saving grace for these pics was I was able to get within 8 or 10 feet as the far distance, and then they would come as close as 3 to 4 feet to eat the seeds I put out to attract them, like in the last 3 shots.

But it doesn't take a high dollar camera and expensive glass to get shots like this. Almost any P&S can do it. The trick is to set up a feeder to attract the birds in close in the first place. From there, almost any camera can take a good picture.