Thread: shooting birds in high quality...

Hi everyone, I have been lurking on here for a while and I know you guys will be able to put me right....
This isn't just another "what Camcorder" question honest

I will be on a little wildlife haven in mid wales for the next 6 months or so. There is resident owls , kites and small birds. Rather than photographing , I'm wondering about filming so that I could put together a DVD and post a short film online toward the end of the year... The thing i'm most concerned about is quality. I will be using hide and tripod but want the resulting short film to look good. If I make a poor job, fine but I don't want to get good footage that looks cr@p if you know what I mean.
I also don't want to be a pixel whore and realise nearly every cam has an HD sticker on it.
I've looked at a canon HF200 (around £600)
xm2
and a used canon XL1 (£900).
I nearly got some work in the wildlife unit for bbc last year and missed out (gutted) Now i'm thinking of putting together a short film to either show what i can do or at least have fun doing ? I'm typically looking at shooting birds in the field, by water etc.
Nothing I can buy and put on DVD is going to be broadcast quality so whats my best compromise. What I'm after is quality if that means a cam that shoots really good quality in good light but not in poor light, I will work round. Is there a site you peeps look at where you can view sample clips or would they be too compressed on t'internet...
I'm looking sub £1000.
oh go on tell me it can be done
alex