I also had to switch off the auto-pilot that would have steered me towards Kilnwick Percy or Pocklington, but it was less of a wrench to take the back road to Warter at the foot of Totterdown (Nunburnholme) Hill – that climb is one I no longer care for. Here I saw the unmistakable markings of a solitary Red Kite over Goodmanmham Wold some way in the distance to the north.įlooding around Goodmanham meant I had to divert through Market Weighton before picking up the route towards Londesborough then Burnby and Nunburnholme. The ‘Kiplingcotes’ sign that once pointed further north has been missing for a while now, but we’re turning left on to a lumpy road and heading for Goodmanham. That route is followed over the next crossroads before ramping up for another at Money Hill. The route is a little under forty miles long.įrom Etton the route goes gently upwards before dropping in to the shallow Kiplingcotes valley, over the crossroads and up again, passing the start point of the Kiplingcotes Derby. So I thought I’d put together a ride that takes in most of the places where I’ve spotted Red Kite. Over the past few years I have noticed these magnificent birds more frequently whilst cycling around particular parts of the Yorkshire Wolds. A map confirmed that areas where Red Kite could be found all year round were limited to Wales.Ĭompare that to the map on the Yorkshire Red Kites web site that also details the reintroduction programme of 1999 at Harewood Estate in West Yorkshire. Yes, you can find all the up-to-date information you need – and more – on the Internet these days, but when I wanted to carry out some research about the UK distribution of Red Kite I was interested to read a contemporary account from the time when I was a child. Week by week the collection would build up in to a pile of magazines that went in a cardboard box to be stored in the loft for the next three decades.
#Red kite cycles uk full
Back then I collected the full Orbis publication ‘The Encyclopedia Of Birds’. I was a member of the Young Ornithologists’ Club before I joined the Cyclists’ Touring Club as a schoolboy and for me the experience of appreciating Yorkshire Wolds wildlife has been a vital part of cycling in and around the area.
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