White storks nesting on top of an ancient oak tree could become the first wild pair to successfully breed in Britain for hundreds of years.<\/p>\n
The enormous birds are brooding three eggs on the rewilded Knepp<\/a> estate, in Sussex, as part of a project to reintroduce the species to south-east England.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely thrilling,\u201d said Isabella Tree, the author and estate\u2019s owner with her husband Charlie Burrell. \u201cShe is sitting on three eggs and we feel like parents \u2013 after torrential rain we rush out to see if their nest is still there.\u201d<\/p>\n The Knepp estate is close to the West Sussex village of Storrington, referred to as Estorchestone or \u201chomestead of the white storks\u201d in the Domesday Book. Although the occasional wild stork flies across Britain, the birds are believed not to have successfully bred here since 1416, though some believe wild storks fledged chicks as late as the English civil war.<\/p>\n The storks have been brought back in a collaboration<\/a> between three landowners in south-east England, the Cotswold Wildlife Park<\/a>, Warsaw Zoo<\/a>, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation<\/a> and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust<\/a>, an expert in restoring endangered bird species.<\/p>\n