Long-vanished white storks have been reintroduced in southern England, leading to an “explosion” in sightings across Greater London in recent years. White storks could once be seen flying in Britain’s skies and building their huge nests on roofs and buildings as well as in trees, but disappeared centuries ago as a breeding bird due to hunting and habitat loss. In the four decades before the start of the project there were just 27 records of white storks across Greater London. “You look up into the skies and see a white stork, it’s quite obvious.”And he said: “We realised in recent years we’ve seen an explosion in white stork recordings across Greater London. The first phase of the study has involved surveying a representative sample of 1,000 Londoners, and a second phase is asking residents and frequent visitors to give their view on white storks and their place in the capital.

Source: The Times August 04, 2025 11:08 UTC