White stork chicks peer out of their nest in Sussex

These amazing pictures show the moment the parent stork arrives at its nest at Knepp Castle near Horsham, and the chicks clearly visible inside.

The baby birds hatched earlier this month as a result of the White Stork Project, which is attempting to bring the breed back to Britain.

It is thought that the white stork was once widely distributed across the nation but eventually died out.

A combination of habitat loss, overhunting and targeted persecution are all cited as contributing factors to their decline.

The project, which is a partnership of private landowners and nature conservation organisations, is working to restore a population of 50 breeding pairs.

Eggs

It was confirmed in April that there were five eggs in the nest in a large oak tree at Knepp Castle.

A spokesman for the project said that the female is a ringed bird from the project, which came to the site in 2016 from Poland.

The male has no identifying ring so this is likely to be one of the 20 or so “vagrant” storks which visit Britain each year.

Isabella Tree, who is co-owner of Knepp with Charlie Burrell, spoke of their excitement over the new arrivals.

She said: “When I hear that clattering sound now, coming from the tops of our oak trees where they’re currently nesting at Knepp, it feels like a sound from the Middle Ages has come back to life.

“We watch them walking through the long grass on their long legs, kicking up insects and deftly catching them in their long beaks as they go – there’s no other bird that does that in the UK.

“It’s walking back into a niche that has been empty for centuries.”