Three

Three Red Kites circle overhead in the late afternoon gloom as Ilkley Town Ladies and Skipton Town Ladies contest a 1-1 draw in the West Riding Womens Football League First Division at Ben Rhydding. I was going to skip football this weekend, but Ilkley Town put out a special call for spectators for a charity fundraiser so I thought I'd head along. They were pleased to have 112 in attendance.

Before the match I spent a couple of hours in the adjacent Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits nature reserve. This is a place I usually visit during butterfly season, so I found it a bit bare today, but it at least made for clearer views of the river. I didn't see any Kingfishers but along with the Kites I spied Buzzard, Cormorant and Curlew.  I also discovered the eddy which gathers all of the footballs that get kicked over the  fence.