The Common Tern

Walking early this almost cloudless morning I find myself admiring a group of Common Terns
at the harbour entrance. They are a beautiful bird with long slender wings and a forked tail.
I watch several flying head down and, displaying remarkable eyesight, drop vertically from
about thirty feet into the water to emerge seconds later with a minnow firmly clutched in their
beaks. They then fly close to the water to feed their almost grown young waiting at the breakwater.
After a brief rest they are off again to repeat the process before the minnow school moves on.