Good News for Storks and Humans

Mr. Stork on delivery -- Dumbo ( Disney 1941)

The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
the Lebanon cedars He planted,
where the birds make their nest,
the stork who home is the cypresses.

Psalm 104:16-17 -- Robert Alter

There isn't a lot of good news on any front these days but I was encouraged to read that storks, a broad-winged, majestic species of bird, have successfully hatched eggs in Britain for the first time in 600 years. Fittingly, they've done so near the village of Storrington, known as Estorchestone or “homestead of the white storks” in the Domesday Book of the the 11th century. 

Storks make their migratory flight from Africa to Europe along the Rift Valley, which includes the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley in Israel. I've watched soaring flocks of storks in Israel and it is a mesmerizing sight. These British birds have been bred in captivity and reintroduced to their traditional nesting area. 



Storks in Britain

Not surprisingly, since they would have been observed and admired in flight, there are several references to storks in the bible. One of my favourite psalms, 104, celebrates the variety and beauty of Creation for its own sake, and the storks get a shout-out amongst many other species.

It was the ancient Greeks who associated storks with birth, probably because the birds often nest close to buildings, and even on the roofs of homes and churches.

Perhaps I like this story because the stork will visit our family with daughter Jocelyn and husband Jeff expecting their second child in a matter of days. It is an exciting time for storks and humans