16/09/2026
Last month some of you might have spotted an unusual species when visiting Crowdy Reservoir. 🪶
We were lucky enough to be visited by a White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), a returning breeding species to the country after a 600-year absence, successfully reintroduced via the White Stork Project in southern England.
These birds have a striking white plumage with pitch-black wing feathers, long red legs and a large pointed red bill, standing 100–125 cm tall with an impressive wingspan of 155–215 cm!
The first wild chicks fledged in 2020 at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, since then the birds have been spotted across the South. As Storks are known for their loud bill-clattering used to communicate during the breeding season, you may actually hear one before you see one. 👀
Fun fact: The famous myth that storks deliver babies comes from northern Europe, where the birds would return from migration exactly nine months after the summer solstice, a traditional time for weddings! 👰♀️👨🍼
If you see a Stork or any other unusual species when visiting our lakes, please report it to us. We collate all wildlife records and use them to inform our management of our South West Lakes Trust grounds.
Send in your sightings to: [email protected]
