I shoot in my backyard in Germany all the time. Here's the most important setting: patience. I also made friends with a red squirrel who now does cute poses on cue. (a pocketful of hazelnuts is useful for this) Sometimes I set the camera close to the the ground, throw some unshelled peanuts in front of it, and disappear for awhile: instant in-your-face documentary about the secret life of magpies. (Before trying this, screw on a UV filter in case they feel like testing their nasty beaks on the front of the lens) I rarely use an auto lens -- not enough control. If you want to get really close with songbirds, that 140mm ain't gonna cut it. Find yourself a 200-300mm still camera lens (they're cheap on ebay) and use a tripod -- I'm using an old Nikkor w/adaptor and the footage looks gorgeous. Take note of the predominant light in your chosen shooting location. Is it bright and contrasty with lots of shadows, or diffuse and evenly illuminated like we tend to get in Northern Europe. Are you in an open field or deep in the woods? If it's a mix of everything, don't worry, learn to work with it. Snow, especially in bright light, is definitely challenging for the limited dynamic range of most sensors, including our beloved GH2. BTW, strong afternoon backlight works very nicely on furry and feathered creatures. You're using Flow Motion? That's an excellent start -- the best overall hack we have, IMHO. One last question: do you love critters and trees and nature and all that stuff? If the answer is yes, good -- everything else will fall into place. Happy hunting!