The Stork Brought You!

For centuries parents have dodged answering children's questions about childbirth by claiming "the stork brought you"
This tradition is believed to date back to the Greeks [and the myth of Gerana], and then other Southern European nations. In the days when many weddings took place around the time of the Summer Solstice, there were a lot of babies born in March/April. This was the time when the storks returned after their winter migration South. Hence returning storks=arrival of new babies.
The Greeks also had a law called pelargonia [from pelargonus, the word for stork] which meant responsibility to care for aged parents- because storks watch over the older birds.
White storks used to be very common in Britain - this is evidenced by some of our place names - Storrington in Sussex was formerly Estorchestone/Storca-tun...the homestead of the storks, there's Storkhill in Yorkshire, and a number of other similar placenames.
But although we get visiting birds from Europe, the white storks have not bred in this country for years.
In fact the last recording of a pair breeding in Britain was in 1416 [the year after Agincourt] on the roof of St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. 600 years ago
Many storks were killed and eaten in the 17th century - because they bred in East Anglia [home to Cromwell & others] they were seen as a symbol of radical Christianity - so the Restoration monarch and his friends chose them as a popular banqueting dish!!
Five years ago, some storks began nesting on the roof of Thrigsby Hall near Yarmouth in Norfolk. There was much excitement..but nothing happened!

But this year, we have had a pair of birds in Kent, on the Knepp Estate, nesting on the top of a great oak tree - watching over three eggs. This is part of a re-wilding project, and although these birds were provided with nesting poles, they preferred their own nest ion the tree. Sadly it appears the eggs have not hatched as hoped.

<< here are the Knepp pair. The experts are not too downhearted - apparently it is not uncommon for the first few eggs to fail - and storks can stay together and breed for decades.
One of the rewilded birds has flown off - and actually been spotted in Norfolk.
I do hope that some storks eventually manage to set up home and breed again here - in some parts of Europe, the numbers have decreased [possibly due to global warming] 
The stork has been acknowledged as a herald of new birth, a reminder to care for the elderly, and the sign of determined Christians working to improve their society. What's not to love about these birds with such symbolism behind them?
I listened to an ornithological enthusiast on the radio discussing this, and he said "The stork is a symbol of hope, and that is surely what Great Britain needs right now" Well, amen to that!

Bob asked me what storks eat - I have no idea- my first response was "Margarine?"