Having had such a resounding introduction to black grouse lekking displays on Sunday, I was determined to see more. I was widely assured that the birds perform a similar but less spectacular form of the behaviour just after the sun sets, and 7 pm being a far more sociable hour than 7am, I was keen to have a look.
The lek site is around fifty miles away, and for somebody on an extremely tight budget, petrol expenses are becoming an issue. I renewed my unforgiveably pricey car insurance contracts today, so feeling spiritually and financially withered, I decided that it was worth splashing out and going off to see the lek as a way of cheering myself up. After an hour in the car, I was feeling optimistic of a good display, but as I pulled around the final bend and looked up to the lekking ground, I saw that it was empty.
Assuring myself that I was too early, I settled in to wait. After half an hour, a cock bird leaped up into the air three hundred yards away and flew out of sight. Twenty minutes later, I heard a different cock call once and finally spotted him feeding off in the distance. He skipped between the tussocks trailing his long, furled tail behind him. The sun sank in behind the hills and the chocolate tops of the Galloway hills melted into the purple gloom.
All evidence seems to suggest that these birds don’t display in the evening, even though it had been a warm, bright day without much of a wind. If I want to see them at their best again, I’ll have to get up and leave the house by half past five in the morning.
What am I complaining about? It’s not as if the birds won’t make it worth my while…
Bog Myrtle & Peat 
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