WHITE STORK of unknown origin in North Herts 11 April

This afternoon my pager gave news of a WHITE STORK at Albury near Bishops Stortford. Having missed the Tring birds last year by minutes, I dashed off straight away, and arrived to find 2 local birders and Bill Last looking at the bird, but as I got out of the car they said "Quick, before it disappears over the hill!" I just managed to get a view through one of their scopes of the head and neck before it walked over the brow of the hill. A local resident then passed in his car, and showed us where we could get a view of the rest of the field. We drove round, with Anthony Dorman, who had arrived just too late to see it, and had excellent views of it feeding in the field. However, a dog walker passed along the edge of the field. The stork looked nervous and stopped feeding, and then flew off low over our heads, and over the village and out of sight. It could still be in the area, though possibly in Essex.At the start of the year, a few of us posted messages saying what we hoped to add to our Herts lists in 2009, and I said White Stork! Next year I'll wish for Siberian Thrush! (David Booth)