2022 White Stork Release

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Yesterday a group of thirty-seven young White Storks were released at the Knepp Estate, West Sussex. Thirty-three of these birds were hatched at Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens earlier this summer, and for the first time this year were joined by four birds hatched at Wildwood Trust in Kent, before arriving at Knepp a few weeks ago. They are settling into their new home, but how long they will stay before they decide to migrate south no one knows!

The project team are asking members of the public to submit sightings of White Storks through the project’s website. All project birds are ringed with a unique large blue ring on the upper left leg, these rings have white writing on starting with GB. Over 2,000 sightings of UK storks have been recorded from across the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain since releases began in 2019. This information is invaluable for learning about the movement and behaviours of these birds. 

Eight of the group have been fitted with specially designed GPS tags. These will transmit data on a regular basis so that conservationists can follow their paths, in particular to find out if they stay in the UK or whether they migrate south for the winter. Keep an eye on @ProjectStork social media and the news page of the website for updates on their travels.