Having picked up a bottle of milk, I was coming out of my local shop when I heard the plaintive calling: ‘Feed me! I’m starving! Feed me!’

A pair of Herring gulls seems to breed on the shop rooftop every year; last year’s single chick fledged successfully, thanks in part to the titbits of food donated to its cause by both shoppers and the shop owners feeding the parents.

This year’s chick is already well grown, though it looked to be suffering from the heat during our mini heat wave. Let’s hope it continues to thrive.