‘They’re part of folklore’: storks return to Derbyshire after 600-year absence

A long orange beak poked curiously out from its wooden crate, followed by a sleek head and slender body. Then the first white stork of the morning flapped its wings and took to the air. Moments later a second emerged tentatively to stalk through the long grass, followed closely by a final sibling who stretched its wings and explored the length of the enclosure.

The trio of juvenile white storks have just arrived at their new home in Willington Wetlands in Derbyshire and conservationists are hopeful that their presence will kickstart the return of the birds to the Midlands after an absence of more than 600 years.

“It feels absolutely incredible,” said Katie Last, the living landscape officer for Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, who has overseen the project and manages the nature reserve. “To see white storks back at Willington feels like a real milestone. We’ve put years of work into restoring this landscape. I’m over the moon with how it all went. Our next aim is to get to the point where they’re a sustainable population and they can live outside, flying around and people can see them moving through the landscape.”