There have been some very early starts over the past few days, but fortunately the weather has been staggeringly good and the conditions almost perfect for lek hunting. I heard a cock calling from an incredible distance this morning in the pristine stillness, and now that I’ve got home and had a look at the Ordnance Survey… Continue reading

Worth noting at this point that the Heather Trust Auction has just gone live after a great deal of sweat and tears. Regular readers will know that I work with the Heather Trust as one of my “day jobs”, and it is certainly a great cause worth supporting, but I’d draw your attention to Lot 109 –… Continue reading

Must make quick mention of a visit to Langholm this morning to see the ever-expanding lek, which continues to go from strength to strength. There was pride, drama and the outright ecstasy of a visit from two greyhens which flew right into the arena and stirred the cocks into paroxysms of giddiness. I was joined… Continue reading

Uploading some more pictures from the last few days, I found this one of a greyhen in the larches. Perhaps it’s only appealing to my eye since I know the context, but something about greyhens in the half light of dawn strike as much of a chord with me as blackcock shining in the morning… Continue reading

In a ten minute break from work, I found my hands wandering to the graphics tablet to produce this quick sketch of a song thrush – the heroes of the past few weeks. Perhaps I have never tuned in to them before, but it seems like they are super-abundant and very noisy at the moment.… Continue reading

There has been some excitement in the press about a collective call from several charities and NGOs to ban the culling of mountain hares pending more research on their distribution and the efficacy of killing hares to reduce louping ill. This issue crops up now and again under various guises, usually as a veiled attempt… Continue reading

People in the countryside tend to be quite dismissive of urban foxes. The general perception is that these animals are mangy, threadbare and can’t hold a candle to their “purer, wilder” rural counterparts. Having lived in Glasgow for four years as a student, I understand why urban foxes get a bum deal when it comes to PR, but… Continue reading

My wife would never forgive me if I didn’t quickly post this photograph she took from the car window coming down into Aberdeenshire from Glenshee. I will never know how she spotted a pair of snipe lurking on the roadside verge as I drove past at 50mph, but she insisted that we reverse the car so that… Continue reading

After an excellent whistle-stop tour of the North East highlands earlier in the week, I have returned to find mounds of work piling up on my desk. It would be hard to do the trip justice, laden as it was with blackgame and ever more heather burning, but suffice it to say for now that the long… Continue reading

Getting excited about spring migrants, I’ve been keeping a keen ear pressed to the window during the past two days in the office. Chiff-chaffs now abound, and seconds ago, while writing my column for June’s edition of the Shooting Gazette, I heard the first willow warbler of the year – a major milestone and one of… Continue reading