The Stork Blog: It’s been a long time coming

Dedicated to Terri Noy

As I’m sure every other Erasmus student did before jetting off to their year abroad destination, I undertook some thorough and accurate research (thanks Wikipedia) in order to prepare myself and get to know my new home in advance. To my surprise, I read that Alcalá de Henares was “well-known for its population of white storks.” And, sure enough, within a few days of arriving I saw my very first stork. I couldn’t help but be a little bit disappointed, though, as during my first weeks here I only caught sight of a couple – from what I’d heard and read, I’d imagined Alcalá to be stork-city. However, patience, as it usually does, paid off and now I can’t go anywhere without seeing a stork – they cover the tops of many of the buildings throughout the city, including the University and the churches. And it’s not just the storks that catch my attention, but also their nests – huge contraptions made of sticks which can be used by the same pair for up to several years. As well as probably being able to house me and my entire family, these nests are also eye-catching due to their location – I’ve seen one (pictured above and left) that is balanced on one of the battlements of one of the turrets of the castle wall that adorns the outskirts of the city. A risky move – every time the wind blows I always think that the curtain will drop on this particular family of storks, however it’s been sat there quite happily for the best part of six months.

My favourite photo (taken today)

Despite the fact that it has now been seven months since I got here, I still get excited every time I see a stork, which drives my friends crazy, especially a certain Wigan-based flatmate, who in the end had to suggest a ‘stork box’ (similar to a swear box, only the penalty applies every time I mention the ‘s’ word) to make me shut up. Although my friends here would say otherwise, I’m not actually a nature or bird fanatic – I just think it’s nice to see something that isn’t a blackbird or a pigeon! Plus, they are hard to ignore (not that you’d want to!) when they inhabit almost every rooftop and when their bill-clattering echoes throughout the entire city. My reliable research tool (hello again Wikipedia) informs me that there are currently 90 resident pairs in Alcalá de Henares, many of which have shortened the distance or duration of their typical migration in order to remain in the city almost all year – marvellous! – it really wouldn’t be the same without them. The only problem with this though is that with the pesky stork box, I’ll be taking the stereotypical ‘poor student’ to a whole new level...