Tern, Tern, Tern

Our summer holidays found us again on the Dorset coast. We took a daytrip to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour. I went there as a teenager and was only interested in seeing the red squirrels that are supposed to live there. I didn't see any then and we didn't see any this time, but this time I only really wanted to see some birds.

As it happened, the birds of Brownsea Island are a lot more numerous and visible than the squirrels. From the café garden we could see a tern: 

Rose likes how they fly, in quite a darting acrobatic kind of way, like a swallow, equipped as they are with a similarly forked tail. There was also an oystercatcher close by:

(look at that fierce orange!)

Further into the island there were hides overlooking the water. On the mini islands in the water there were more terns nesting and spawning fluffy new terns. 

I thought the first tern we saw was an Arctic Tern but we found out it was a Common Tern. The difference between these terns is almost imperceptible.  The Arctic has a shorter bill and shorter legs but unless you see both terns sitting conveniently next to each other in exactly the same position, without moving then I have no idea how you'd be able to tell the difference. We only knew the ones we were looking at were Common and not Arctic because we were told.

And then there were some Sandwich Terns. They’re more distinct. They have black crests and seemed more dignified, quieter, stylish. They also had nests and babies.

Sometimes I can’t see how any of this would matter, but other times I feel like I could just walk around outside looking at birds all day and not need anything else at all to make me happy.