Monday 1 April 2013

At last

White Stork at Sawbridgeworth.

Not one of the dozens of White Storks I saw on Spanish lamp posts, roofs and pylons last weekend made me cast more than a cursory glance.  However, one seen on a lamp post in Sawbridgeworth by Mike Harris made me move a bit faster. A county ‘bogey bird’ for me was about to fall.  Most obligingly, it flew over the car as I arrived at Pishiobury, disappeared down over Harlow for 10 minutes or so, before re-appearing overhead again, heading north this time.

Apparently only 16 birds have previously managed to sneak past the county committee, mostly in the last decade. Ten of these have turned up between March and May, with the bulk in April, also the peak time for records nationally.  That's good enough for me and my county list increases to 266.