kb57
Well-known member
Despite being right next door to County Durham, my knowledge of Yorkshire and its birding sites is scant. Apart from Castleford of course, whose combination of year-round real snow to ski on and a nearby wetland to bird on has proved irresistible to me in the past.
I’ve nothing against Yorkshire in principle…it’s just that it’s a bit too big, and gets in the way sometimes. Like when you’ve been working Somewhere Down South, and cross the Derbyshire border. You’re back in the North, only one more county to go…a feeling of momentary relief is inevitable, followed by the immediate realisation you are still south of Rotherham, with a quick and possibly important decision to take whether to wind your way round Sheffield and Leeds on the motorway, or take the direct but wagon-clogged M18 / A1. Whatever you decide doesn’t matter in the end, as you’ll end up becalmed in that land of permanent road-works that is North Yorkshire.
When it comes to birding, there’s a further problem. Yorkshire isn’t only long, it’s also very wide. And getting to the coast doesn’t involve a dreary motorway journey. No – it involves negotiating Sutton Bank, or a winding route across the wild and windy moors to Helmsley. And you’re still a long way from the sea. It’s understandable then that most birding journeys take me north, up the Northumberland coast and into Scotland, while a southward trip usually ends at Teesmouth.
However, all this changed when the new ‘Best Birdwatching Sites - Yorkshire’ guide popped through my letterbox. I must admit, I love reading about birding sites. It always makes me want to go there. Unfortunately when I read up on how to get there, it usually means an expensive flight to Bogota or Gaborone, followed by US $250 a day for a bird guide, or four figure sums for a safari camp. And how will I persuade my better half that Colombia really isn’t full of armed insurgents anymore? As I pored over my new book, Yorkshire was starting to seem like an attractive alternative.
I’ve nothing against Yorkshire in principle…it’s just that it’s a bit too big, and gets in the way sometimes. Like when you’ve been working Somewhere Down South, and cross the Derbyshire border. You’re back in the North, only one more county to go…a feeling of momentary relief is inevitable, followed by the immediate realisation you are still south of Rotherham, with a quick and possibly important decision to take whether to wind your way round Sheffield and Leeds on the motorway, or take the direct but wagon-clogged M18 / A1. Whatever you decide doesn’t matter in the end, as you’ll end up becalmed in that land of permanent road-works that is North Yorkshire.
When it comes to birding, there’s a further problem. Yorkshire isn’t only long, it’s also very wide. And getting to the coast doesn’t involve a dreary motorway journey. No – it involves negotiating Sutton Bank, or a winding route across the wild and windy moors to Helmsley. And you’re still a long way from the sea. It’s understandable then that most birding journeys take me north, up the Northumberland coast and into Scotland, while a southward trip usually ends at Teesmouth.
However, all this changed when the new ‘Best Birdwatching Sites - Yorkshire’ guide popped through my letterbox. I must admit, I love reading about birding sites. It always makes me want to go there. Unfortunately when I read up on how to get there, it usually means an expensive flight to Bogota or Gaborone, followed by US $250 a day for a bird guide, or four figure sums for a safari camp. And how will I persuade my better half that Colombia really isn’t full of armed insurgents anymore? As I pored over my new book, Yorkshire was starting to seem like an attractive alternative.