1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\nLate yesterday afternoon while this Pied-billed Grebe was hunting crayfish in the shallow water of our local pond\u00a0the crayfish apparently already knew it was doomed as the grebe approached so it rose up\u00a0out of\u00a0the water\u00a0and defiantly\u00a0gave the one-fingered salute to the grebe. A split-second later the\u00a0bird grabbed the crayfish and gobbled it down.<\/p>\n
This is the first time I’ve ever seen, much less photographed, prey giving “the finger” to a predator.\u00a0From the look on the grebe’s face I don’t think it could believe the nerve of that little crustacean.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nah, I’m\u00a0joshin’\u00a0you – couldn’t resist.<\/p>\n
Actually the grebe had just torn off one of the swimmerets of the crayfish by violently shaking it and the crayfish flew through the air and is now landing in the water tail first. Both of the big claws had already been torn off so all that was\u00a0left was some of the smaller walking legs with their\u00a0much smaller\u00a0claws on the end –\u00a0perfect for the illusion of giving the finger, especially in this position. When I saw the image\u00a0on\u00a0my screen that’s what I immediately thought of so I just ran with it. In reality the crayfish is now defenseless and the grebe swallowed it\u00a0about 2 seconds after this\u00a0photo was taken.<\/p>\n
It’s only a novelty shot but\u00a0that’s about all I had time for this morning. And besides, this little kid in an old man’s body enjoyed the hell out of it.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
Note: There’s been no “Photoshop magic” applied to this photo. The image is presented as taken.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yes, it’s what you think it is.<\/p>\n
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