White Storks at Knepp castle

After a great days hide rental with Eddy and Lynne Hyde I headed over to Knepp estate to try and find the nesting White storks, actually there are now 3 nests but only one so far with chicks and astonishingly its the first time in over 600 years they have bred here in the UK.

I parked in the campers car park and when I got there at 3.45 ish there were only 3 cars already there so I parked got my gear and set off.

I knew it was on the white trail and studying the map I knew roughly which way to go but the signage is not great so be careful if you are heading out there.

Its probably a 2-mile hike, fairly level but not easy as the tracks are used by the roaming cattle so potholed and easy to twist an ankle so I would suggest sturdy shoes.

Anyhow, I arrived at the field in which the storks are nesting 30 mins later to find a viewpoint with seats and a few people just passing the time of day watching the storks, scanning the field with my bins I could see a better vantage point halfway around so set up there, from which I could see the parents and occasionally the chicks as the stood up for a stretch.

I would say I was 100 meters or more from the nest in the tree so all photos are massive crops, here is a photo of my setup and the tree in the distance so you can see the distance.  The storks were not bothered by the people passing through the area and I could have maybe got a little nearer but I decided to give them some space all the same.

Storks nest in the tallest tree in the center of the photo.

Here are a few photos from my 3-hour visit, they did fly around a couple of times but never that close but great to see nesting back in Sussex and credit to the team at Knepp for all their hard work.