The White Stork Project’s 2025 breeding season has delivered its most captivating stories yet, as satellite tags reveal the remarkable journeys of young storks taking flight across Europe.
This summer, 45 wild-hatched chicks at Knepp and 48 juveniles released in East Sussex swelled the UK’s growing population. By late August, Sussex skies shimmered with nearly one hundred storks riding thermals as they prepared for migration.
Ten youngsters were fitted with satellite tags, under license from the British Trust for Ornithology. This offered fascinating insight into how these first-time migrants navigate the world. While most birds followed familiar patterns, exploring southern England before crossing the Channel, two Knepp-hatched brothers (GBY8 and GBY9) astonished the team.
Eschewing the usual western route through Spain, they headed east across France, soaring together over the Alps at 4,500 metres before becoming the first project storks ever recorded in Italy. One eventually settled in the north, while the other pushed on to Sicily which is where they both still are.
The reasons why these two took a different route to the rest are still unknown but are being investigated alongside analysis of the other journeys. The birds may be following their instinct to take the Eastern flyway given that their parents are originally from Poland. The weather may also be a factor; there were storms along the way and the birds may have taken a different route in an attempt to avoid flying through turbulent weather.
The rest of the cohort took a later, steadier path into France and Spain, some joining wild European flocks along the way. We are eagerly anticipating some reaching Morocco, as project birds have done in previous years.
Their journeys are far from over. As the young storks explore new horizons, the project’s satellite tags, and public sightings, will help uncover the mysteries of migration, one incredible flight at a time. If you are interested in following their journeys, all the data from the satellite tags have been made publicly available on our website here: Interactive Flight Map | White Stork Project
If you are interested in sponsoring a tag or supporting the project, please get in touch with us through the website or donate to help us fund our research here: Knepp Wildland Foundation – Donate to the White Stork Project
To celebrate all things nature recovery, put the date in your diary for the second White Stork and Nature Revival Festival 2026 taking place in Storrington on Saturday 23rd May 2026.
Laura Vaughan-Hirsch,
White Stork Project Manager
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