AN Oldham birdwatcher has called on residents to look out for the rarely-seen white stork this spring.
James Walsh, aka the Mancunian Birder, said: “Spring is the best time of the year for sightings of white stork in the wild in the UK as this species returns from African wintering grounds to Europe.
“The white stork is the unofficial national bird of Ukraine, and this species is becoming an international symbol for peace.”
White storks have been spotted several times within Oldham, according to James, who has been watching birds in Greater Manchester for more than 30 years.
There have reportedly been three sightings in the Castleshaw Valley and one at Medlock Vale.
Conservationists are currently working to restore the white stork population through the White Stork Project.
Last week the project launched the UK’s first live-stream white stork nest camera.
In Springwatch 2020 we showed you some pretty special naturally breeding white storks, the first in the UK in over 600 years! Today @ProjectStork launches a citizen science project; a live web cam so we can all watch a breeding pair and record the behaviours we see! #springwatch pic.twitter.com/TIfHisjBCC
— BBC Springwatch (@BBCSpringwatch) March 14, 2022
The project installed a live-stream camera to a stork nest on Knepp Castle in West Sussex in partnership with Wildlife Windows and with the support of The John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust.
The live stream can be viewed on the White Stork Project website which also has a section where birdwatchers can report white stork sightings.
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