AN 'unbelievable' and 'rare' sighting of more than 70 white storks flying off the Cornish coast was captured by a local photographer recently, writes Lauren Beavis.

Adrian Langdon was one of 20 people on Looe Island who spotted the flock of beautiful birds flying overhead on August 20.

The wildlife photographer from Wadebridge was taking part in a seal survey and after receiving a tip-off, looked up and spotted the 'staggering' sight of 72 white storks in the sky.

The birds are believed to have travelled from a rewilding project being carried out in Knepp in West Sussex.

Adrian, who has been a wildlife photographer for 50 years, said: "It was unbelievable - and because it's such an irregular occurrence it makes it pretty special.

"We were just looking at the rocks with seals on them, counting their numbers and the birds whilst we were there too.

"But had we not received word there were some storks coming down the coast, we probably wouldn't have looked vertically up - so it is likely we won't have seen them!

"I quickly put the telescope on them and quite surprisingly picked them up coming down around Seaton.

"I called everyone on the island and we all shared binoculars. There were a lot of us to witness it, and it was great to share such an experience with others."

Adrian takes part in the monthly seal count and photographic ID project on the island. He said the white storks came down almost into Looe then 'directly overhead' the island.

The birds are believed to have carried on down the south west, roosted on Predannack Airfieldon on The Lizard peninsula, then come up the north coast of the county.

Adrian believes the slight fragmentation of their movements may be down to the species getting familiar with their whereabouts.

He added: "They are probably getting their location right for if they do migrate - traditionally white storks migrate to Spain and north Africa, then they will mix up with other ones and increase the gene pool.

"Though not all migrate, some will stay in the UK over winter. I have been lucky to photograph a lot of storks this year - it has been fantastic."

The White Stork Project aims to re-establish a wild, breeding population of white storks in the UK.

The project website states: “White storks live in colonies for safety in numbers and their failure to breed in the UK over the last few centuries is thought to be largely because there has been no nesting colony to provide security for visiting migrants.”

The hope is that all the offspring will return to Knepp or Wadhurst once they are four to five years old and ready to nest, bringing with them other wild white storks.