Stork numbers in NL up but more leave in winter: count

Some 900 stork are spending the winter in the Netherlands this year, this weekend’s annual stork count has shown. Most storks travel to warmer climes in Africa, but some 35% stay put, Dutch bird protection organisation Vogelbescherming Nederlands says. Storks probably base their decision to stay or go partly on the presence of food, the organisation said, but other factors are in play which the count may help clarify. Although the Netherlands now some 1500 breeding pairs, the number of...