Mourning my Stork......

My beautiful stork has gone! Most days I drive to work through the Nairobi National Park (delaying meeting the traffic jam for an extra 20 minutes or so). About 4 weeks ago I made it my mission to follow the progress of a Saddle Billed Stork who was nesting in a tree very close to the road. We first 'met' one afternoon when I saw her by the side of the road collecting grasses that had been uprooted by the rangers putting in table drains. So everyday I would stop to assess the progress and have a chat and then give a report to my ranger friend Simon who mans the exit gate. Unfortunately when he asked for the progress reoprt last night I had to admit that the Stork was no where to be seen and the Vultures appeared to have moved in and taken over the nest. When I suggested that I spend some time on the weekend looking for her of course his response was 'but Catherine, this is nature, we can't have much control' which of course is very true. Despite the fact that the park is on the edge of one of the largest cities in Africa it is a wild place and not a zoo, and the animals come and go as they please and of course the preditors have to eat to stay alive, and scavengers such as the vultures, have to survive as best they can. Tomorrow there will be something new and beautiful to catch my attention. Oh, and Simon has promised he will keep an eye out when he is on patrol.