Twister (Crop).

I prefer to shy away from photos with unicolored backgrounds like this one, but I love the post this seemingly injured White-cheeked tern gave prior to entering a dive. I watched this bird move in from the south, coursing the water to come across fish by surprise. Eventually, it must have realized there was a group of fish directly underneath it, and in order to catch the fish, it needed to hit the brakes as fast as possible, which is why it positioned itself in such a strange manner.

 

Despite an injury on the right foot, it seemed to hunt, move, and look healthy. When these birds are flying, they generally keep their feet positioned close to the backside of their body, to reduce drag and risk of injury, but this bird's foot remained locked in that position the entire time I watched it. I have not seen it since, but at the same time, I haven't been looking at their feet to identify specific individuals (There's about 30 or so that hunt along this stretch of the beach).

 

ISO: 100

F-stop: f/5.6

Exposure: 1/1000

Done