SX50 bird fiasco. Help.

So you're pretty much saying that even with IS (which I understand can't steady everything), I still had camera shake?

So setting to "P" doesn't then automatically make ALL other necessary changes needed to freeze images?  I guess I thought it was the "miracle cure".  Mind you , this was a very quick shooting episode.  I had little time to make adjustments.  But that said, what should be my "be ready" camera settings for the next time?

And, what settings should I have for:

AF...."Continuous"?

AF FRAME...."Flexizone, Face Detect, or Tracking AF"??

Thanks