BIF...

Worth a read?
Not on a Pentax but the technique holds true for anything really...
EVF's aside...
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/51438226

the pentax system is pretty good for photographing birds and wildlife in general if you understand its limits.

Ive had some joy trying the catch in focus with dippers and kingfishers - MF def has its uses

I've tried Canon's 400mm F5.6 and it its without a doubt the best birding lens ever.

Now hopefully Pentax will make something to go with the K-3

What a combo that would be

That is interesting and proves what many know that wildlife at extreme telephoto is a trial and error affair whatever the gear.

That is indeed a very useful walkabout lens yes, possibly the best all round size for the purpose although too slow for AF with a converter.
I have a pal at work who has that particular lens along with the full Canon specialist birding setup and we sometimes wander around the lakes at lunchtime together. Now his AF for continuous tracking is leagues ahead of my K30 (leagues ahead of normal Canon bodies as well) and the Canon 400/5.6L is both handy and sharp.
But ...
That lens isn't all that much better than my Tokina 400/5.6 ATX at a small fraction of the price. The Canon is sharper than mine and usable at full aperture while I have to stop down a little, and it's also quiet being USM motor not the clunky screwdrive in mine. Yet mine still takes sharp pictures, it is smaller and lighter, it has the big advantage of focusing much closer and it focuses much faster.
So there are days I come away with the better picture and days he does. All in all there isn't so very much difference in the end and I'm not at all envious, especially as my kit is a tiny fraction of the price and I'm not terribly into birding (but I do have a new lens coming across the pond at this very moment to help a bit )

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Written by someone who lives in a Country that doesn't have high latitude winters and cloudy summers I'm guessing. Whatever the technique it gets a lot easier if we "always use very high shutter speeds, don't we". Of course for BIF you really need to, but opportunities are limited here.

True but none the less his technique is sound and we ahve to just apapt to the gloom of Borrowdale!
Tough job but someones got to...