While photographing shorebirds in Plymouth MA last year, on several occasions, I observed least tern females attempting to sit on Piping Plover Nests and lay eggs among the already laid plover clutch.
This plover was a bit tired of the least tern female attempting to get on it's nest every time it moved away to feed for a moment and was looking rather fierce towards to unwanted visitor.
Nikon D2Xs, 500 AFSII and TC14EII converter, f8, ISO 400.
Great action. Adding to Fabs's comments, the sand near the bottom between the two rocks looks as if you added canvas or cloned something out, which looks like a repetition of the surface.
The plover nest was nearby, which is why the plover was tad upset. I would have liked a bit better angle for facial expressions on the plover, but then I would have lost the full angle of the wingspread and I may well have ended this display, which was intriguing to watch.
The images were shot at Plymouth Long Beach in Massachusetts, where I shot all summer last year for an upcoming show this year.
No cloning was done on the lower sand. It had rained hard with thunderstorms the evening below, and that's simply the pattern left by the rain in the normally dry sand.
Piping Plover ~ Least Tern Agression
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