Bog Myrtle & Peat

One great addition which has come to the Chayne over the past few weeks has been the building sound of red grouse cackling at first light and at the last squeak of blue before darkness. They reached a peak of calling a few days ago and have since taken a bit of a step back again. Not having many red grouse on the Chayne means that I can almost recognise individuals when they call, and I have a vague idea of where their territories lie. Sadly, the condition of the undergrowth is so poor that their territories are huge, and there is not enough space for more than a few coveys on the hill. I have to give the hens the best chance of breeding success, and now that it looks like I won’t have any greyhens on the hill this year, I can concentrate on the reds, the snipe and the other visiting waders.

After all, I started this project for reds and it’s time that I got properly stuck into helping them out. It’s not as if work for reds won’t benefit everything else…