– ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but Julia is a strange name for a male stork.’ – ‘What! Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not my name! That’s the name of the baby I supposedly brought to this family. Don’t you know anything? My name is Sepp. And what sort of a bird are you anyway? I thought that all the wooden birds around here were storks.’ – ‘God, sorry Sepp! I’m Seamus and I’m a seagull. From Ireland….
I am not the only Big Bird on the cliff. Since we arrived in Portugal, we have seen a large number of storks, many nesting on roofs, poles, chimneys, church belfries and derelict industrial buildings in towns and villages along the coast. They are quite a common sight which is not surprising, considering that the stork is protected in this country and it is against the law to demolish any structure on which storks nest. The lucky ducks! We poor…