Having exposed my favourite black grouse a fortnight ago during the shameful scruffiness of his moult, it’s worth mentioning that he is quickly returning to his smart and overbearing self. Driving off the hill this morning, I spotted the old familiar figure sitting on a dyke. Even from two hundred yards away, it was clear Continue reading

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been dining like a king. As far as I’m concerned, grouse is the finest meat in the world, and when it’s still rare and a little bit bloody, it’s the best thing going. Fortunately, I have generous friends and family who have remembered me on their various grouse shooting Continue reading

Generous visitors to this blog who have come back a few times will have spotted that I have been working on a second project alongside the actual management of the Chayne. Over the last two years, I have been writing and illustrating a book about black grouse which covers natural and sporting history, moorland management Continue reading

Following the total collapse of a nine foot section of march dyke over the weekend, I headed up to the farm this evening to fix it. Through the binoculars, it looked like a simple job to put the coping stones back up, but when I got close, I saw that the entire dyke had sagged Continue reading

After the excitement of the Glorious Twelfth, it’s easy to forget that another open season takes place just over a week later. Not many black grouse will be shot in Britain this year for the simple reason that there are not enough to support shooting on any scale, but there was a time not so Continue reading

My girlfriend has just returned from working in Perthshire where she took this photograph of a pack of black grouse. From what I can gather, they were slouching around in a pack of thirteen, displaying and preening amongst themselves before taking to the sky and flying off together. The time will come when I’ll see Continue reading

It may not seem like much time has passed since snow lay in three foot drifts across the Chayne, but August 12th has arrived and the season has begun. We won’t be shooting the Chayne this year for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I’m not sure what can be shot. I didn’t organise Continue reading

Given the fact that the Chayne is bordered on three sides by commercial forestry of various ages, I was aware that Galloway’s numerous woodland management bodies are involved in some sort of biodiversity work. They’ve planted apologetic stands of rowan and birch amongst their sitka swathes, which serve no purpose other than to show that Continue reading

It was a huge pleasure to visit a reader of this blog on Thursday, when I was shown what it takes to breed and keep grouse in captivity. After a productive spring, black grouse chicks strolled happily through the long grass inside their pens, cheeping and being clucked at by their respective bantam surrogates. Red Continue reading

After the depressing loss of my greyhen’s brood at the beginning of this month, I took the opportunity to cheer myself up today by visiting a friendly estate in the Borders where black grouse are highly prized and appear to be going from strength to strength. After a cup of coffee with the keeper, I Continue reading