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Ringing summary 2024This year, we were delighted to have such a productive and busy stork breeding season across all project sites.
At Knepp, a total of 53 wild chicks fledged in 2024. At Wadhurst Park, 4 chicks fledged and Cotswold Wildlife Park’s captive breeding programme provided 33 birds for Knepp to help bolster the colony and 6 birds to Wadhurst.
Each year, all the young project birds are ringed by trained specialists under license from the British Trust of Ornithology. Two rings are used on each bird; a blue plastic darvic ring which starts with the letters GB then a unique code, and a metal BTO ring. The plastic darvic ring is placed on the left upper leg (tarsus) making it more visible to people with binoculars or a camera. The metal ring tends to be longer lasting and stay on the bird for it’s whole lifetime. The plastic rings can snap though this is very rare. Having both rings allows us to learn a huge amount about bird’s lifespan and movement.
From the process of ringing we have been able to confirm incredible migration journeys and learn about the stork’s breeding behaviour over the years.
As the wild stork colony establishes and develops, it is very important to have a thorough data set on the survival and movement of the birds. In this short blog we aim to give an overview of how the ringing process works and a summary of the season in 2024. If you have any questions or want to find out more, do get in touch with us!
At Knepp, ringing started on a record early date of the 26th of May this year, the live camera nest being the first on the list. To calculate when to ring each nest, we rely on our amazing volunteers giving up hours of their free time to closely observe adult stork behaviour. The project relies on around 40 dedicated volunteers based at Knepp who all work hard to help us gather data on the colony. Out in all weathers, often in the middle of the wildland, sometimes for hours at a time, the team have collected thousands of observations over the years.
When adult storks are seen regurgitating, this indicates that chicks have started to hatch, and from that date the appropriate time to ring the young can be calculated. We aim to ring the birds at around 45-55 days old, this allows enough time for the young storks to have developed their legs properly. However, this still leaves the young at an age where they are very unlikely to try and fledge the nest early when disturbed. If the timing is right, the young storks tend to play dead when they are approached and removed from the nest, barely moving throughout the whole process. The parents typically keep an eye on their nest from a nearby tree or by flying overhead.
To access the nests at Knepp at the right time, we rely on the generosity of some very important contributors to the project; Jeremy Gates who is an expert tree climber and bird ringer, and John Gin who operates specialist heavy machinery that allows us to reach the nests. Alongside this team, Penny Green, Ecologist and bird ringer, carries out the ringing and bird handling.At the start of the season, the team visit each nest and assess the safety and best approach. As many of the nests are high up in oak trees, or surrounded by uneven terrain, they can be very difficult to access, but thanks to the expertise of the team this task is carefully planned and safely coordinated.
From the end of May 2024 and throughout June, the team worked hard to ring all 19 nests at Knepp and a total of 53 chicks. It was important for us to share the process with as many young people as possible, to give a hands on experience showcasing conservation in action and to help foster an appreciation for these impressive birds. Multiple school and home education groups came to watch the ringing and students were encouraged to get an up close look at the young storks and ask questions about the data collection.
The whole process of ringing only takes around 10 minutes per bird. The birds are safely carried to the ground in an Ikea bag (as this happens to be the right size and strength!) Once on the ground the team quickly use specialised tools to put the rings on, a feather sample is collected to be sent off for genetic testing and some biometrics are taken including weight, wingspan and leg length. The data set will be important for future studies and also gives an indication of health of each bird. Most nests have 2 to 4 chicks in and they are processed one at a time then returned to the nest as quickly as possible. From observation we have seen that parents tend to return to the nest to check on the young within 5 minutes.
Despite careful planning, ringing was occasionally delayed due to poor weather, but thanks to the flexibility and dedication of the team and their willingness to come in during weekends and evenings, the ringing was successfully completed. A huge thanks to all the contributors who allowed this important part of the process to happen!
If you are interested in seeing more, we were lucky enough to welcome the OneShow to come and film some of our ringing earlier this year. They put together a wonderful short piece on the project and the ringing which can be found on our YouTube channel, here:
One Show White Stork Project 2024 – YouTube
Huge thanks especially to Jeremy, John, Penny, all the lovely students who visited and also volunteer Amy Hurn for providing some of the photographs. Special thanks also to all the volunteers and especially Tim and Kevin who have contributed enormously to the accurate data collection allowing us to time ringing appropriately.
