Another delightful surprise of Spain – the white stork.
The White Stork is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detours via the Levant in the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, because the air thermals on which it depends do not form over water. The White Stork eats a wide range of animal prey, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and small birds. It takes most of its food from the ground, among low vegetation, and from shallow water. It is a monogamous breeder, but does not pair for life. Both members of the pair build a large stick nest, which may be used for several years. This conspicuous species has given rise to many legends across its range, of which the best-known is the story of babies being brought by storks. – Wikipedia
MK pix 
Lovely captures! I love them birds.
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Thanks Gunta! They’re huge yet graceful, aren’t they? I’m such a (not) naturalist, my first comment upon seeing my first stork was: what’s that?! They were so awesome that I came home with 543 pictures, just of storks. It took hours to winnow the field to these 16 shots.
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Know exactly what you mean. I do the same with my resident bald eagles. Keep looking for that one special shot or waiting for the eagles to do something interesting. 😀
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If they lived in LA I’d have a thousand shots!
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Amazing birds, I can see why you were enthralled. My favorite is the “stretch” which may be a mating posture, like cranes do. Very cool!
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Yes, in the “stretch”, there are two birds. Hmmmm, you may be on to something.
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Really fantastic shots of the storks, surrounded by beautiful architecture. You really got some great pictures!
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Thanks Sue. Very obliging, these architectural perches and the graceful storks!
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Some of the best pictures I have seen of storks 🙂
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Thanks Wendy! I had never before in my life seen a stork. I was so thrilled (as you might surmise from the number of pictures here).
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