Originally posted by stormtech .......It seems I will never achieve the level of most posters
No defeatist attitudes allowed in this thread Stan
I'm sure you can because you have three things going for you a) location (what I'd give to live next to a river and not have to drive 100kms to get anywhere real 'birdy') ! b) your determination to learn c) time and patience. Your lack of mobility can actually be a blessing in terms of the quality of the shots you can achieve because, as Pacer & Wildman said, once you have learnt, by observation and research, the bird's habits you will know where to position yourself to allow the birds to come to you.
I tend to cover a lot of ground when I go birding because I am interested in seeing as wide a variety of birds as I can in the (usually) one day a week I can dedicate to birding. However, unless I get really lucky, my best shots are always when I find a spot I like, and know is attractive to birds, and sit myself down (I don't have a hide but camo clothing, and keeping very still, works well) and wait. Pretty often that works well, small birds (warblers, tits, redstarts, eurasian robins) coming as close as 1 metre (inside the MFD of the 500 - but wonderful to watch them behaving naturally that close up).
So my advice to you is to get yourself kitted out in comfortable (warm !) camo clothing and settle down in likely spots (based on habitat for the target bird(s). I think it was Pacer who gave a great tip I read on another forum : sitting in front of a tree is better than hiding behind it (outline reamins the same since birds see 'contrast') and I practice this often.