An English castle became a stork magnet

In Polish countryside pretty much every village has several frames for storks to build their nests on. People build them on their roofs or on utility poles, and some utility companies do that too. It&#x27;s best to build it a meter or more over the base to protect the nest from predators and electricity.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;dbajobociany.pl&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2016&#x2F;11&#x2F;naprawa-gniazd.jpg" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;dbajobociany.pl&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2016&#x2F;11&#x2F;naprawa-gn...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;e-magazyny.pl&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2021&#x2F;06&#x2F;bocian-slup-energetyczny-600x400.jpg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;e-magazyny.pl&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2021&#x2F;06&#x2F;bocian-slup...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ipla.pluscdn.pl&#x2F;dituel&#x2F;cp&#x2F;wo&#x2F;wo139es6nx2b9jxcrg8a521fafge1x3i.jpg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ipla.pluscdn.pl&#x2F;dituel&#x2F;cp&#x2F;wo&#x2F;wo139es6nx2b9jxcrg8a521...</a><p>Also I&#x27;ve never seen a stork feeding in a swamp as they wrote in this article, but I&#x27;ve seen plenty of times storks walking behind a tractor plowing a field. They wait for the farmer to dig up the ground and eat the larva of insects uncovered by the tractors.<p>They also catch frogs and mice on regular fields. Don&#x27;t need to be a bog. That&#x27;s probably why farmers love them.

This is a great film about the Knepp rewilding project - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wildingmovie.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wildingmovie.com&#x2F;</a> - which this article is about. I found it very inspiring.<p>There are also a couple of books:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;uk.bookshop.org&#x2F;p&#x2F;books&#x2F;wilding-the-return-of-nature-to-a-british-farm-isabella-tree&#x2F;942604?ean=9781509805105" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;uk.bookshop.org&#x2F;p&#x2F;books&#x2F;wilding-the-return-of-nature...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;uk.bookshop.org&#x2F;p&#x2F;books&#x2F;the-book-of-wilding-a-practical-guide-to-rewilding-big-and-small-isabella-tree&#x2F;7351731?ean=9781526659293" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;uk.bookshop.org&#x2F;p&#x2F;books&#x2F;the-book-of-wilding-a-practi...</a><p>And if anyone lives nearby (Sussex, UK) and wants to get involved in something like this, the Sussex Wildlife Trust are almost always looking for volunteers: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk&#x2F;get-involved&#x2F;volunteer" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk&#x2F;get-involved&#x2F;volunteer</a> Once you get into volunteering for SWT you&#x27;ll hear about opportunities to volunteer on lots of other projects like Weald to Waves - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wealdtowaves.co.uk&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wealdtowaves.co.uk&#x2F;</a> - and Knepp.

This story is such a cool example of how rewilding can really work. Turning the land from intensive farming into a more natural space gave the storks exactly what they needed to thrive—and it’s amazing to see them breeding there for the first time in centuries!<p>It makes me wonder what other places could do if they rethought how land is used. Projects like this don’t just help wildlife but also bring life and energy back to these areas. Plus, it’s such a great blend of preserving history and building something new for the future. Would love to see more efforts like this popping up around the world.

I’m in a rural area of The Netherlands (for as far as there’s anything rural here), and storks wreak absolute havoc on the meadow birds, to the point where they are disappearing. Storks are intelligent menaces and absolutely ruthless.

So if the castle is attracting breeding pairs of storks, does that also make it a chick magnet?

I visit Knepp a few times a year. There’s a great circular loop you can walk, and I’ve seen plenty of trees with stork nests—an amazing sight to see firsthand.