Tall skinny birds

[bobleponge]

Got back to work today, and its hot. Hot hot hot. On the plus side that means the water level in the swamps has dropped and so the mossies have moved house. However, the downside is that now we have an infestation of maribou storks, who are taking the small fish left wriggling about as the waters disappear. There are about a dozen or so, all about 3 foot tall and horrible looking. Yuk.

[smallblueplanet]

Hi bob, you mean these?

Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus

they're not the prettiest of birdies are they!

[rustylady]

Where do you work Bob? Agree marabou storks aren't the prettiest, but they beat vultures - they really give me the creeps.

[bobleponge]

SBP those are the rascals. Really evil looking things. Loads of buzzards here too, which I dont mind. Currently working in Sudan RL, but when I was working in Chad we used to have vultures in the compound. They never used to bother me, but these storks ........... just not nice.

[Hilary B]

Where do you work Bob? Agree marabou storks aren't the prettiest, but they beat vultures - they really give me the creeps.

Vultures are (most sorts) not pretty, but they ARE necessary. The vulture population of Asia has gone down at least 90% in the last 10-12 years (yes, that's right, less than 1 left for every 10 there were) and one result of this is a doubling of the number of human rabies cases, because with less vultures cleaning up, the feral dog population has soared.
The reason for the decline is a simple painkiller, diclofenac which some 10 years or so started to be available cheaply enough to give to cattle. Now they don't bury dead cattle there, the vultures clean up, but the painkiller is deadly to vultures if they feed on a cow that was dosed with this stuff before it died......

[bobleponge]

Vultures are indeed a vital link in the eco chain, as I'm sure marabou storks are. They're just bl***y ugly. They have a maleovelant(?) look in their eyes as I walk in their direction.

[Snadger]

Hi bob, you mean these?

Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus

they're not the prettiest of birdies are they!

Hey you............thats' my Mum your talking about there!

Nope..........you're ok I've just remembered about the gooseberry bush!

[bubblewrap]

I saw this thread and expected to see a picture of Kate Moss

[Snadger]

I saw this thread and expected to see a picture of Kate Moss

Or Olive Oyl.........

[bubblewrap]

Or Olive Oyl.........

Useful for growing beans up!!