27/07/2016 White Stork at Croydon

Wednesday 27 July 2016
Beddington Sewage Farm, Croydon, Surrey


Spent the early evening at Beddington Sewage Farm watching the White Stork.  

• I viewed from the A237, Hackbridge side of Mile Road after trying, unsuccessfully, for over an hour to find the access point from Beddington Lane as per RBA.

White Stork
Courtesy of Alastair Gray

• The views could not have been better with the bird showing well from 100 metres or so.  I stayed for over half an hour hoping to see it fly but it didn't seem remotely interested.

                This is a first for me in the UK.

• The White Stork is a large white bird with black wings and red legs and beak. 

• They breed anywhere from North Africa up through Europe and into Asia. 

• They have a large wing span of up to 7ft in length, to put that into perspective the Common Buzzard reaches around 4 1/2 ft with the Red Kite reaching 6ft wingspan. 

• From underneath these birds have half white and half black wings, they fly with a succession of fast wing beats before then going into a glide. 

• Their diet can be quite varied, anything from worms, frogs and toads to voles, fish and lizards.

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK List:

White Stork   (229)

Addition to BUBO UK Life List:

White Stork   (317)