Looking down the East side of the same berm (opposite direction). This is very typical of a wildlife refuge, with a road on a raised berm, a short strip of grass or bare ground between the road and the water, then some reeds, and then the muck at the edge of the pond. Very little level ground. When you size out your tripod, you probably do it in the comfort of your home, on a level floor. Here we see little level ground and personally I don't like shooting right up against the road on that short strip of flat ground. I know that when I'm driving down that berm, half the time I'm looking up or to my side over the water- not at the road :-). I assume everyone else is doing the same thing.