Raptors by the Railway

Ochre trackside birches contrast with the clear blue sky.

A red kite glides over a broad stretch of the valley of the Wharfe.

Sheep and flocks of herring gulls are dotted around in the green pastures on the hillsides.

The frost hasn’t given in the cutting between Pannal and Hornbeam Park. A buzzard flies up from the top of the embankment and settles in a tree.

On our circuit of Harlow Carr RHS gardens, we see a second red kite, flying over the pinewoods.

The light is steadily fading on our journey home but, as the train stops at Weeton, we glimpse a heron.