Chasers, Skimmers, and the Little Tern Chase

What a great week i've had. Brilliant weather, and loads of photographic opportunities. So to celebrate last night i fell off the wagon again, and as a result i'll begin by apologising to all the people that i might have upset in the last few hours.
   Last Sunday me and Chris visited a Purbeck pond, it is on private land, so i can't reveal the location. Like many of the ponds around Purbeck its brilliant for all kinds of wildlife, so we were able to fill our cards with numerous species.
   Wednesday marked the start of my obsessive Little Tern chase. They're only here for a few weeks to breed, and i decided that i had to get some good shots before they left for Africa. So with the Gardiner jaw set firmly out, i grabbed my camera ,300mm f4 and a 1.4 converter, and away to Ferrybridge. Little did i know then that this pursuit was going to cost an arm and a leg in parking fees, and provide quite a challenge for my limited 'bird in flight' skills.
   Convinced that the 300mm f4, and converter that had served me so well taking Common Tern shots at Lodmoor would do the job, i settled the bum on the pebbles and waited for the fishing terns to come close. They didn't come close enough for the lens, and actually didn't even start fishing until the tide was well out, and that was after three and a half hours of me taking pictures of the breeding Ringed Plovers. They've got little chicks running around at the moment, and while this was enjoyable enough, it wasn't getting me shots of Little Terns. I came away with just Plover shots.
   By Thursday i was finally coming to the conclusion that i was going to need the 300mm f2.8 with a X2 converter to get over the 'distance' issue. What's more i would need to hand hold the heavy combo in order to have the manouvreablity needed to track the fast little blighters. I'd tried a tripod, and a monopod with it, but i found both lacking when it came to tracking Little Terns. So using this approach, and getting to the location at the right tide time, i finally started to get a bit of tern joy. They are cracking little birds, and not here for long. Go on,,,, you know you want to. LOL,, i still haven't caught a splash or one in level flight. So another expensive week to come.