I've just been walking my dog along a river. I'm not far from Pulborough brooks (5 min drive) so that's why i've come here to see if anyone knows if there are black storks in the area? I crossed over a bridge and a huge black bird took off beneath me. It was quite heron like but completely black. It had been paddling about in the stream. It wasn't a cormorant, seemed a lot bigger. It landed a bit further down the stream and i could see it looking at me, but it had its head tucked so i couldn't see its bill. Tried to sneak back along the path and could hear it walking around in the stream, but then another dog walker came up behind me so I decided to continue with my walk. A black stork is the only thing i could think of, is there anything else it could have been? About the same size, if a little bigger than a heron, long legs and a bit of an effort to take off.
Black storks have a very distinctive white belly, so are not completely black. Your description fits much better with cormorant, although these don't really 'paddle' and the long legs doesn't fit either. Black storks are rare vagrants, but now is the time when they turn up, so you never know...
thanks for your reply, this is where i'm confused. photos of black storks with the white underside don't really fit, but i've also never seen a cormorant walk about like this one. It also had long thin legs and was a bit ungainly like a heron or stork. I'll keep an eye out if i see it again.
Glossy Ibis maybe? Not quite heron tall, but dark, and not always glossy! Seem to being seen more often recently
Also providing interest in Hampshire, a Black Stork was seen over Hayling Bay on 28th. See www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/.../WeeklyRoundup2024_40.aspx
But, as above, Glossy Ibis is (now) a much commoner bird than Black Stork.
Very interesting thanks! Yes the glossy ibis could be it and not a bird i know, but the Hampshire reference is very intriguing. I will see if anything is reported at Pulborough brooks over the coming days. I suspect this is where it will end up.
looking at the photos of the Glossy Ibis i really think this is what it was.