Bog Myrtle & Peat

Over the past few weeks I’ve been seeing some pretty nice coveys of red grouse, not only on the Chayne but also in the surrounding area. On the morning of the CLA (when I was stalking a roe buck instead of sitting in a hot car for five hours to Ragley), I found some decent birds down on the hills above the Solway, including a double covey of over a almost fifteen young birds. Elsewhere I’ve been seeing sevens and eights, and it seems like Galloway has done very nicely for red grouse broods this summer. I still have a few more days of formal grouse counting here and elsewhere this season, but the encouraging picture looks fairly universal so far.

With the exception of a few projects in eastern and northern Dumfriesshire, the south west of Scotland has nothing like as significant a grouse interest as thirty years ago. Nevertheless, scattered islands of heather (usually wasted and neglected by the Forestry Commission) still hold on to a tiny spark of grouse potential, and no matter where you go in the county, you’re seldom more than five miles from a grouse. Most of the birds shot this year in Galloway will be on small, walked up days, but just because the “big day” investment is often lacking, it doesn’t mean that there are not shoots and individuals who are out there, battling to conserve the birds and protect their sport against a tide of spruce trees and foxes.

It remains to be seen how our black grouse have responded to the good weather. Poults seem to have a way of lurking in the myrtle and bracken well into the autumn, defying even the most determined count, but after a summer as good as this, it would be surprising if increases aren’t noted.

One thing is certain – if the press releases issued in May 2014 do confirm an increase in lekking blackcock, you can bet your last penny that the RSPB will find some way to claim the praise.