Black stork pays a rare visit to county

Dave Brown and his family saw a black stork circling over south Ashford late in the afternoon of Saturday, July 23. It was then seen in the early evening over the Tunbridge Wells area flying west into Surrey and Sussex airspace. Earlier in the day it had been seen circling Worth Marshes, by Sandwich in East Kent and been seen the day before at Stodmarsh, near Canterbury. So it is getting about a bit.

The black stork is the rarer of two Stork species which occasionally wander to Britain in the spring and usually again in the autumn. The commoner species is the white stork which has mainly a white body and black primaries with red bill and red legs. Black stork tend to nest in large trees in wooded landscapes. They have more black in their plumage with a white belly and a red bill and legs. They have large flat wings and the neck is held out straight in front of them in a distinctive silhouette.

Both species of storks breed as near as northern France and so counties like Kent and East Sussex see wandering individuals on an annual basis. Black storks tend to be midsummer wanderers, while white storks tend to be seen in early spring and again in early autumn.

This black stork is believed to be the same individual which was also seen in Hampshire.

For more information contact Owen Leyshon, Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership, telephone 01797 367934 or log on to www.rmcp.co.uk