Stork Nest on Saint Nicholas Basilica, IJsselstein Live Cam

This camera looks down on a white stork nest built on a chimney of the Saint Nicholas Basilica in IJsselstein, southwest of Utrecht. Two ornamental metal finials of the church roof flank the broad mound of sticks and earth.

The neo-Gothic basilica was built between 1885 and 1887 to a design by Alfred Tepe and became a minor basilica in 1972. IJsselstein gained city rights in 1331 and is named after the Hollandse IJssel river. After storks had tried for three years to nest on the church, a base was fixed to the chimney in March 2020.

The camera is mounted on the church tower, so the nest sits low in the picture with a car park beyond it and a large tree on the right. Outside the breeding season the nest can stand empty for weeks, though in some mild winters the pair has not migrated.