Stork 'babies'!

This will probably be my last posting on the storks (collective sigh of relief?!). The reason for this is that I am pretty sure they will be leaving town soon. The 'chicks' have become rather large as you can see from the photo, and it is now very obvious there are three of them. It was hard to tell for a while just how many there are, but as they have gotten bigger there are no such problems.

The other tell-tale sign of imminent departure is 'flying lessons'. Was out in the park on Friday morning doing a run session and I noticed both parents and the three offspring doing aerial laps of the park, clearly practicing for their upcoming migration.

Having finally taken the time to do some research, I have now disocvered that these guys are White Storks, and all the excitement is because there are only believed to be 9-12 breeding pairs in the Netherlands. That would explain the crowds that stop each day in the park to check out the nest, and presumably makes the birth of three offspring pretty significant.

And it seems there is a strong historical linkage here - not only is the White Stork the national bird of Lithuania and Poland, it is also - set against a yellow and green background - the symbol of the city of The Hague here in the Netherlands.

And the lucky things get to winter in Africa - a very pleasant thought. Given that it is raining again this afternoon, they may leave sooner rather than later!