Almost two years since his discovery on the Chayne, my favourite blackcock’s reign of terror has come to an end. We found him dead this evening, lying behind a patch of dry rushes on the burn side. The injuries inflicted on him last week seem to have finally done him in at last, and he Continue reading

It’s been a few days since I last saw my favourite blackcock in the shepherd’s garden, and when he appeared today, I see that he has a large ruffle in his feathers as if he has been knocked or bumped somehow. I’ve often seen birds with this sort of break in the continuity of their Continue reading

It was an early start this morning and up onto the hill to try and get this year’s black grouse census underway. It’s still a little early for blackcock to be displaying at full bore, but after a cold, frosty night and a decent mist up on the high ground, it seemed too good an Continue reading

Just worth mentioning that the blackcock who was spooked by the goshawk last week seems to be overcoming his cowardice and spent part of this afternoon lekking on the farmhouse lawn. By the time I got down to see him, he had given up and was sulking amongst the snowdrops, but at least he’s getting Continue reading

I was somewhat surprised this week to hear that the company behind black grouse whisky (and the Famous Grouse) is ambivalent towards shooting. The publishers of my black grouse book sent a representative of Edrington Group a PDF of the text and images in the hope that some sort of a tie-in would work to Continue reading

After a night of alternating periods of rain and frost, the Chayne was virtually inaccessible this morning. Although the roads just looked wet, they were glazed over with translucent ice. Driving was dangerous, but walking was lethal. I had fallen over three times before I could make it to the nearest fence, and I then Continue reading

Despite the fact that the new hedge has now been fenced off and made stock-proof, there’s still alot of work to be done before it can provide black grouse with any advantages. Indeed, an unmarked fence in black grouse country can be an active danger to low flying birds who are liable to crash into Continue reading

Forgot to mention that on the 27th January, this blog celebrated its 2nd birthday. Many thanks to the various visitors who continue to support the blog and the project it is covering both in thought and deed – it’s great to hear from you all! What started out as a way of documenting my obsession Continue reading

I happened to notice yesterday that the RSPB are again advertising for paid lek surveyors in Dumfries and Galloway. Candidates are required, in the terms of the job offer, to “undertake surveys for black grouse, with the expectation of searching approximately fifteen 5km squares for black grouse lekking locations and record relevant information e.g. lek Continue reading

Having finally got my camera up and running again after almost a month, it’s been good fun picking up where I left off in my attempts to document the Chayne in photographs. One of the first things I managed to swing the lens onto today was this blackcock, lurking in the debris of zome old Continue reading