This is a first. A Red Kite flying above our house in suburban Bingley!
Quote from: Will Hunt on April 25, 2023, 03:35:36 pmThis is a first. A Red Kite flying above our house in suburban Bingley!That's a coincidence, yesterday I saw one above Ilkley. I've seen a lot of them above Arthington / Huby / North Rigton (i.e. Almscliff area), but I think Ilkley is the furthest I've seen one from the release centre in Harewood. Nice to see their range increasing.
Quote from: moose on April 26, 2023, 08:53:16 amQuote from: Will Hunt on April 25, 2023, 03:35:36 pmThis is a first. A Red Kite flying above our house in suburban Bingley!That's a coincidence, yesterday I saw one above Ilkley. I've seen a lot of them above Arthington / Huby / North Rigton (i.e. Almscliff area), but I think Ilkley is the furthest I've seen one from the release centre in Harewood. Nice to see their range increasing.That's surprising. Was at Ben Rhydding sports club a few months back and there were a few of them, at least four patroling the fields and hedgerows either side of the club and more along the road as you went further back towards Otley. Locals didn't seem fussed, got the feeling it was common to see them.
Heard a Cuckoo this morning. No Swifts yet tho.
A Thicket in Lleyn by RS ThomasI was no tree walking.I was still. They ignored me,the birds, the migrantson their way south. They re-leafedthe trees, budding themwith their notes. They filtered throughthe boughs like sunlight,looked at me from three feetoff, their eyes blackberry bright.,not seeing me, not detaching mefrom the withies, where I wascaged and they free.They would have perchedon me, had I nourishmentin my fissures. As it wasthey netted me in their shadows,brushed me with sound, feathering the arrowsof their own bows, and were gone,leaving me to reflect on the answerto a question I had not asked.'A repetition in time of the eternalI AM.' Say it. Don't be shy.Escape from your mortal cagein thought. Your migrations will neverbe over. Between two truthsthere is only the mind to fly with.Navigate by such stars as are notleaves falling from life'sdeciduous tree, but spray from the fountainof the imagination, endlesslyreplenishing itself out of its own waters.