My afternoon walk to Lodmoor Nature Reserve proved the perfect antidote to my five-hour journey on four different trains to get to Weymouth. And what an absolute delight it was when I arrived at Lodmoor to first hear – very raucous, and then see the Common terns and their Black-headed gull companions breeding in close proximity on two artificial islands near the edge of the lakes. (These islands are ring-fenced and fitted out with some enclosed nesting ‘boxes’ to try to offer the birds better protection during the breeding season.)

Though Common terns can be seen at certain times of year when moving on passage up and down the Bristol Channel, I’ve rarely managed to catch sight of them in my local stomping ground, so seeing them at reasonably close quarters, and with their tiny chicks just beginning to explore the world around them, was another special treat of this holiday.

Terns are magnificent aeronauts. Their skill at manoeuvring their streamlined shape through the thermal airwaves, their ability to twist and turn and plunge and lift – these fliers are a joy to watch, particularly when diving for the tiny fish swimming just below the water’s surface. And, with several tiny chicks to feed, these terns were almost constantly in the air. Many seemed to fly straight out to sea where, presumably, their prey was more bountiful but I also noticed, when walking around Weymouth’s other local nature reserve, Radipole Lakes, that the Common terns were successfully exploiting the fishing opportunities there as well.