Bog Myrtle & Peat

Still on the road and covering a huge amount of ground, but worth including this picture of a young blackcock which emerged yesterday afternoon near Deeside and spent five minutes browsing through some beetle damage on the roadside. This bird is perhaps two weeks ahead of the young black grouse in Galloway (which are mostly second sittings anyway), and while his colouring still seems very juvenile, it won’t belong before he is altogether black. If nothing else, it’s a reminder of how inappropriate the old black grouse shooting season was, which made it legal to shoot poults at this age when they are still so floppy and daft.

Much more to come on the past week, which has included everything from stoats and capercaillie to sea trout and stalking.