For generations, they have been associated with new life and the patter of tiny feet.
But storks are now enjoying a population boom of their own amid a conservation project that has seen them return to English skies for the first time in centuries.
The White Stork Project, which is based at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, has 25 home-grown storks which have chosen to spend the winter in the UK.
The birds first laid eggs in 2020 and conservationists say the numbers are getting close to a ‘critical mass’ which could see the birds finally recover to numbers not seen for centuries.
This year saw 53 chicks fledge at Knepp – double the previous year’s 26 – giving high hopes that storks will start to recolonise other parts of England.
The secret of Knepp’s success is creating a colony of more than 20 non-flying storks rescued from accidents with powerlines and roads in Poland.
These are kept in a six-acre pen in the middle of the rewilding project.This helps attract wild birds from Europe and also gives Knepp’s free-flying storks – offspring of the penned birds – confidence and security in numbers.
The White Stork Project, which is based at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, has 25 home-grown storks which have chosen to spend the winter in the UK
As well as stretching their wings in the air, the overwintering white storks can be found following the Tamworth pigs and longhorn cattle around the rewilding estate, trailing them for unearthed worms in the disturbed soil.
Isabella Tree, co-founder of the 3,500 acre Knepp rewilding project with her husband Charlie Burrell said:
‘The project’s been an amazing success we’ve been astonished how quickly it’s all happened.’We’ve not had white storks breeding here for at least 600 years.
‘This is a real milestone. The last recorded nest we think was successful was on St Giles Catherdral, Edinburgh in 1416.
‘So bringing them back to Britain has been amazing’.She explained the injured, non-flying rescued birds living in the pen in England attract some of the 20-40 birds which scout over England looking for places to nest in the UK.
‘These injured birds in a pen creates if you like a false colony, reassurance to birds coming over from the continent.
Captive reared juvenile White stork (Ciconia ciconia) in flight over the Knepp Estate soon after release in August 2019
Explaining the success of the project, she said: ‘We now have very mild winters and we’ve got some birds that will stay all winter, I suppose because of climate change.
‘It’s lovely to see these birds, they are nesting in the top of oak trees and even in winter will see the resident storks the ones who have decided to stay are being very territorial and holding on to the nests they need.’
‘It’s amazing to hear this incredible clattering sound they make, and they are very prehistoric when flying, almost looking like a pterodactyl.’
She said of the stork colony at Knepp: ‘You need a critical mass, storks need to be able to fend for themselves and protect their eggs and chicks from ravens and rooks and buzzards and all sorts of things.’
