'Amazing' flock of nearly 80 white storks seen in Cornwall for first time since Middle Ages
A flock of nearly 80 white storks has been seen in Cornwall for the first time since the Middle Ages.
The last breeding pair to be recorded in Britain was in 1416, nesting on a cathedral in Edinburgh.
The birds are thought to have migrated to the Lizard Peninsula from West Sussex, where they were reintroduced in 2016.
Before that, white storks were extinct in the UK, following destruction of their natural wetland habitat, the fens, in the East of England.
John Rance, a volunteer at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: "Bird migration blows my mind, frankly. It's one of nature's wonders that we are only just beginning to understand.
"People will be familiar with swallows returning every year. It's just amazing and 80 wild storks is quite a sight."
So where did the white storks come from?
In 2000, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell realised the land on the Knepp Estate in West Sussex no longer worked for modern farming.
They sold their dairy herds and farm machinery, and put the arable out to contract - clearing the estate's huge debts.
They decided to re-wild the parkland at its centre, roughly 350 acres, by dedicating it to wildlife conservation.
Establishing a breeding population of free-living white storks was a part of that project.
The releases began in 2016, with the first chicks born four years later.
In the first four breeding seasons, 68 chicks successfully fledged. You can find out more about that here.
John said: "We know that wild white storks were present in the UK in the medieval period.
"Back then we had a lot more wetland, especially in places like the fens in East Anglia.
"Those areas were drained in the 17th and 18th centuries, which dried the land out and took away their breeding habitat.
"So along with persecution - they were shot for food as well - it's habitat loss that really ended their population in the UK.
Why are they migrating to Cornwall?
Around 73 of the 80 white storks from Knepp have been spotted in a flock moving across the South West this month.
John Rance said: "You find that a lot of birds follow the spine of Cornwall until they come up against the Atlantic.
"We've mapped their movements over a couple of days and you can actually see them moving.
"We know that they were seen first in South Devon and then they followed the South Cornish coast past Seaton, over our Looe Island nature reserve, across St Austell Bay and now they're on the Lizard.
"What tends to happen is that birds circle Mount's Bay. You've got two headlands, if you like.
"You've got Lizard Point and then in the west you've got Gwennap Head.
"Up high, at altitude, they can see those landmarks, so they're locating themselves around them.
"Once they hit the Atlantic, their instinct will be to turn back towards Knepp."
How can you recognise a white stork?
Their bright red beak and legs are a result of carotenoids in their diet — the same pigments that make carrots orange
During the winter, flocks can reach thousands of individuals
They are comfortable nesting on buildings, like cathedrals
Knepp's storks will slowly learn to migrate to Africa
Bird migration is something that's always fascinated John, because it's still something of a mystery to zoologists.
He said: "There are various theories. We know that birds are aware of the Earth's magnetic field - but what probably moved them this week was the changing of the seasons.
"Wild white storks are migratory. The ones that breed in continental Europe migrate to Africa and back every year.
"These ones don't know how to do that yet, but the thinking is that they will learn, because they have that instinct.
"They notice, like we do, that the nights are drawing in and this triggers an instinct in them to move."
A smaller number of birds from the flock were seen in Cornwall in August 2022 - but this is the first time such a large flock have been spotted in hundreds of years.
"They are incredibly punctual and that is related to the changing of the seasons.
"They're probably not feeding a great deal while they're on the move like this.
"Typically in their breeding habitat, it would be things like small mammals, amphibians and a variety of invertebrates.
"At this time of year, they are probably snacking pretty quickly, fuelling up and then moving again," John said.
Is this good news for Cornwall?
Historically, white storks "weren't particularly common" in the West Country, John explained.
"They were more seen in the East of England and further north. But white storks are an important part of the ecosystem because they're at the top of the food chain.
"If there's enough food for a white stork, it's clearly a healthy, balanced ecosystem."