With all the discussion of High pixel cameras (eg D800 ) long telephoto lenses tripods etc one related item seems to have not been discussed, the relatively new "Filter/sharpen/shake reduction"

I have the D800 with the new Nikon 80-400G zoom which I carry on my bird walks, thinking of adding a monopod

Even with the rather good VR I sometimes find that shake blur is noticeable at anything less than 1/1000, which frequently is fine on a reasonable day particularly if one is flexible on higher ISO,s

So I have been playing with the aforementioned shake reduction filter, which I find in some limited situations to provide remarkable results.
It works best with low noise shots without any prior sharpening

One of the interesting features of the software is a graphic of the routines analysis of shake and other noise if any in the picture- I think that it has helped in improving my technique by proving visual feedback

And dispite what the book says it can help with birds in flight as long as wings are not flapping

However I have not found any particularly useful tutorials on use of the routine, books will just list the controls and give them names without really explaining (well smoothing is obvious and artifact suppression adjusts the amount of correction where high numbers give less correction)

Has anyone had any experience or thoughts on this subject

We were there the first two weeks of August. We were in the interior the first week--where the weather has been unseasonably warm this year (85 F in Fairbanks!), and the second week on the cruise. We had a little mild rain, but only enough to make me think twice about protecting my gear by putting it under my jacket, but not enough to prevent me from getting the shots I wanted. I also had a waterproof P&S for the worst times. I like that combo, but sometimes I forget to wipe off the glass protecting the lens, which leads to droplet shaddows which are annoying.