November 6 '05

Ih Tweeters;

That was a very enlightning message from Paul Webster, in response to my rather wild comments about Storks and power lines. I didn't know the half of it.

When I was stationned at Augsburg (1971-75), we used to drive to a small town just north of there (Gablingen?) to watch the closest W. Stork nest atop a church tower. One year the young were killed by lightning. Another time, I saw a parent stork bringing back a rat! for the youngsters.

There was another active Stork nest atop a larger church complex at Donauwoerth.

Another time I saw a Stork flying near Neu Ulm, presumably nesting nearby. I could look these items up in my notes, if anyone is interested.

When I was there, the Iron Curtain was still going strong. So the abundant W. Stork nessting territories in eastern Europe were off limits. But one accessible location, that I never made it to, is/was Neusiedler See (Lake) in Austria on the Hungarian border. Any birder visiting Vienna should make the short trip there for reportedly exotic birding, including lots of nesting White Storks.

One common German name for the White Stork in Hausstorch (House Stork).

I never did see the much rarer Black Stork. There again, it is most common in eastern Europe (in forests).

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA
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