"Archibald" wrote in message
...

A couple of examples will clarify the issues...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archibald_smith/

My question is, for this situation, what are the best settings for the
AUTOFOCUS MODE and the AF POINTS?

In the winters I take a lot of photos of gulls, pelicans, turns, osprey,
etc. flying. On my 10D in bright sunlight I use the center AF point, ISO
400, AI Servo and aperture priority with an F stop that gives me a shutter
speed of at least 1/2000 second with a 100-400L lens with the IS turned off.
The hard part is keeping the AF point on the bird. Sometimes you succeed,
sometimes you don't.

Good luck!

Ron