Mother Nature knows best

World wide Wednesday this week has a local flavour.

White storks are now a common sight in the neighbourhood of Den Haag.

They are more than a metre tall as adults and have distinctive, long, red legs.

White storks were wiped out in Europe at one point in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

Then there were attempts to reintroduce them in countries like The Netherlands.

Locally in a nearby community, there were attempts to encourage stork nesting close to where I live recently.

Between the trees, you can see a beautiful hand crafted, nest installation. A link with Romania brought this stork nest on a wheel to entice new residents.

Funny how nature is.

Within weeks, the storks showed an interest in the park.

They circled the area, weighing up the potential.

Eventually they find a suitable spot.

Incredibly they rejected the provided wheel nest.

Instead they settled on a very tall tree that had been recently topped off. It was the tallest tree in the locality.

They have nested here for several years now. And one or two chicks have survived.

They’ve also become internet celebrities.

Maybe they’ll be successful parents this year once again. I’m impressed they made such a smart, successful, home choice.