A White Stork stands at the edge of her nest with her chick, proper name Ciconia ciconia, in the Parc Naturel Regional de Camargue in the Plaine de la Camargue, Bouches de Rhone in Provence, France. These birds are migratory but the breed the in warm areas of Europe, northwest Africa, and Southwest Asia, but this mother has decided to have her chick in France.
Storks can grow to be quite large birds, up to 50 inches in height, and about 10 pounds in weight. Even the White Storks are all white except for the black tips on the ends of their wings. They also have red beaks and legs, except for in their young, which have black beaks and legs. They don't spend a lot of time on the ground but when they do, they walk upright on both legs.
In France, these White Storks are known for being a symbol of fertility as in traditional fairy tales they bring young children to their parents, but about twenty-five years ago, the numbers dropped so dramatically that there were less then nine breeding pairs left. However, due to a conservation program and careful monitoring, there are now over 270 pairs, but they still have to be watched closely to make sure their numbers do not drop again.
White Stork, Ciconia ciconia, in a nest with chick, Parc Naturel Regional de Camargue, Plaine de la Camargue, Camargue, Les Bouches du Rhone, Provence, France, Europe.
I photographed this photo with the digital SLR camera model Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, aperture of f/6.3, exposure time of 1/400 sec. on ISO 200, as always I used a original Canon Lens, the focus lenght for this picture was 310mm.
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