White stork origins
The white stork which appeared on our reserve at the weekend, caused quite a stir amongst bird watchers. The bird was ringed so that meant there was a history or at least a place of origin to be found. Had it not been ringed we would have known it was wild, but had no idea how it got here.
Following the trail of the ring we have found out that this is a male bird which was wild in Poland (where it had the green darvic ring fitted), it was in amongst a group of storks that had been taken to a wildlife rehabilitation centre after colliding with power lines in eastern Europe. Fears that the winter would be too cold for these birds, which would normally migrate South, led to the group being relocated to Shorelands Wildlife Centre at Diss, Norfolk. This individual appears to have fully recovered from its ordeal and found its way to our reserve, a distance of about 40 miles.
