I set out to photograph Least Terns nesting and decided to use the teleconverter for more reach. These are small birds and I prefer to stay well back from them at this critical time. Their nesting area is roped off so I placed my ground pod outside the ropes and waited. For the most part the female was laying on her eggs, with an occasional visit from her mate to feed her or take over while she took a break. These images represent a burst of images taken as a Ghost Crab strolled too close to the nest. Most of the Terns tactics for defense involves wing posturing, but this Crab got a more physical lesson. I think crabs are more of a threat to the Terns chicks than their eggs but these birds were putting this one on notice. This all happened in my direction, meaning that the 700mm I was shooting at was way too much reach for this kind of action, shame too, these could have been some of the best shots I've managed to date. The ground pod is a great tool for ground shooting but when the terrain is uneven there's bound to be shots with foreground vignetting. It's kind of an artsy effect but I would have preferred to have had unobstructed shooting. It was a wild 20 seconds or so, never saw a crab fly before.
