“Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" the little girl asked.
"Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

I was recently reminded of a memorable encounter I had here in SW Florida a few years ago. Being a life-long city raised guy, I have discovered many new plants, birds, animals, insects and reptiles since arriving in South Florida in the summer of 1991. The most unusual IMHO, was the good pal I made one morning, right here in my backyard in my large mobile home park !

Was out back checking on my banana plants nearest to my next door neighbors' 4 ft high metal fence that ran almost the length of our property line. Over that fence, visible behind a couple of sparsely wooded 12 ft trees, was a noisy group of 7 or so White Ibis,... common around here and friendly, if a bit noisy, - they visit every home. Having completed my " inspection tour " I turned to walk back along the fence to the rear door of my home. I hadn't gone three steps when I noticed something moving out of the corner of my left eye. I stopped and looked to the left, and he ( or she ) stopped and looked to the right. What I was staring at, as I found out later, was a huge Wood Stork, mostly white but with immense black wings, - it easily stood 4+ feet tall !!!

I was dumbfounded ! I had never seen one of these guys before and knew absolutely nothing about them ! They don't exist on the upper West side of Manhattan for sure !! He looked a lot more sure of himself,..us two standing there staring at each other didn't seem to faze him one bit ! He was probably out schmoozing with the little Ibis, then decided to find out more about this other, much larger and stranger-looking creature !

A bit unhinged, I looked ahead and continued my walk back, a little quicker this time, - with the metal fence only 2 feet to his right and the same distance to my left ! Lo and Behold, he also turns HIS HEAD FORWARD AND CONTINUES HIS MARCH RIGHT ALONGSIDE ME !!! Now I am beginning to get somewhat nervous,..and amused at the same time ! This guy is a hoot ! So, for the hell of it, just to see his reaction, I stop once more,..and he does likewise. We both turn our heads and look at each other,..as before.!!!

" OK ", I says to myself,..." this has been hilarious, but has gone on long enough !" I turn again and march smartly towards my rear door with my new pal Woody right alongside ! Still standing close to the fence, I stop for the last time as the fence ends there, turning left on his side and connecting to my neighbor Tom's home. I again turn to the left to look in amazement at my new pal " Woody ", but this time he stops and makes a full right hand turn, looking directly at me,..LIKE HE WAS IN THE ARMY AND THE COMMANDING OFFICER SHOUTED " RIGHT FACE !! " Now I am beginning to freak out,..so I take a tentative step angling toward my back door, AND THEN, SENSING THE END OF OUR MEETING,..HE FLAPS HIS HUMONGOUS WINGS, AND IN ONE WHOOSH HE IS OVER THE FENCE !!

Poor Woody was left alone at the outside bottom step, looking lonely. A couple of minutes later I saw him amble away toward the front street, then he disappeared and I have never seen him or any other Wood Stork since. My one and only encounter was a memorable one however,..I was impressed and admire these birds greatly. A few of my friends hereabouts say they've seen them on a few occasions,..but am sure their experience wasn't as exciting as mine was !! lol

A true story !
( pics are from internet )