Diving common tern at the Cotswold Water Park

I've been stuck at my desk today, but when Helena came home she expressed an interest in going to buy some climbing shoes, and an opportunity to go out for a jaunt appeared. The location turned out to be a store some way away, so I offered my services as a driver. Having prepared a lovely luncheon for us, how could I not reciprocate.

So we went to the Cotswold Water Park where the specialist Outdoor activity company has a big store near to one of the lakes. I left Helena to check out the relevant gear and to get advice from another climber, while walked a few yards to the edge of the gravel pit which has become a naturalised lake. I was pleased to find some birds flying over the water in addition to the regular ducks and coots, but I was unable to get close to the water's edge because of the wide expanse of reeds.

Two common terns were very active flying acrobatically and rather beautifully in big circles around the large expanse of water. One of them kept coming back to a point beyond the reeds, where the water was shallow, and proceeded to hover very adeptly before plunging in an instant straight down into the water to try to catch a fish. Luckily it returned to repeat the performance and I was able to catch this rather distant shot, which is a bit blurred but certainly shows the dynamic vertical flight, just prior to hitting the water.