A new arrival in Ryedale (From Gazette & Herald)

A new arrival in Ryedale

YES, it is a stork - at Kirby Misperton.

The rarely-seen bird, perched atop the roof of the village church, was photographed by Mike Flynn, of Pickering, who was at the time taking some wedding photos.

"I'd just finished taking the formal pictures," he said, "when some of the guests said, 'Oh, look, there's a stork'. I didn't really believe it - I thought it might be a heron - but, when I looked through my long lens, I realised it was a stork."

Sightings of storks in this country are rare. They are migratory birds, spending the winter in Africa, then flying to Europe to nest. So storks in this country have gone off course. A sighting or two every year is about average.

According to the RSPB, there no records of storks nesting in the UK. However, earlier this spring a pair was seen in the Huddersfield area attempting to nest.

More recently, they have not been seen and a RSPB wildlife expert suspected the one in our photo may be one of the pair from Huddersfield.

Mr Flynn said a couple in the Kirby Misperton churchyard told him they had heard reports of a pair of storks near the village.

If you know more about the Kirby Misperton stork(s), please let us know.

Updated: 14:21 Wednesday, June 09, 2004