Manfrotto 329 (Bogen 3410) tripod head

This 3-way pan-tilt head gets great reviews, and is supposed to be

very smooth, but it only has a -15, +90 degree tilt angle. -15

degrees doesn't seem suffient for many types of shots, e.g., a bird

in a tree.

Has anybody tried turning the camera around backward on this head to

shoot at a higher angle than 15 degrees? If so, does the tilt handle

get in the way of a long lens, or show up in the photo with a short

lens?

Is the pan/tilt motion smooth enough to be able to follow action

while shooting continuously?

Thanks for your help!