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We are now ten days into the black grouse shooting season, and although it will be a few years before I carry a shotgun to the birds on the Chayne, I am constantly reminded that they are classic “gamebirds”, flying strongly and with a will. I have been doing some bits and pieces in the Continue reading

It has almost been two months since I last saw the blackcock. Despite the fact that reliable sources told me that I should expect him to vanish during his moult in July, I felt certain that he had been killed and eaten by some coarse and unwelcome predator. Finding his feathers in early July provided Continue reading

I don’t remember any details about who made this or where it came from. All I know is that I saw it at the CLA game fair and that it cost £3,950-00. It’s extremely nice, but if whoever buys it spends that money on trees or larsen traps instead, they might have one or two Continue reading

Walking over the hill the other week, I found one of the blackcock’s feathers lying in the grass. My immediate reaction was one of gloomy resignation. Nobody has seen him now for more than three weeks, so it is now widely assumed that he has been killed and eaten by some no-good prowler. Finding a Continue reading

I have spent the past month researching for a book about black grouse, and having heard great things about the GWCT’s work in the North Pennines, I headed over for a look. The Weardale and Teesside beagle pack came over to the Chayne earlier in the spring, but paying them a return visit was a Continue reading

Having heard that an experimental black grouse reintroduction project is currently taking place on Arran, I could hardly resist having a look at first hand. Heading over on the ferry yesterday morning, I didn’t really know what to expect. I have read from a number of sources that it is comparatively easy to rear and Continue reading

Having commented on the blackcock’s current scruffy appearance a couple of days ago, it is now only fair to mention that he is trying to salvage his reputation by having frequent dust baths. I went up to the Chayne this afternoon to cast an eye over the new oat installation, and was surprised not to Continue reading

The blackcock is an altered bird. The feathers in his neck are falling out in tufts, and his moult appears to be well underway. I finished some typing work at midnight last night and slumped in front a bad film. By the closing credits, it was starting to get light outside, so I seized the Continue reading

No one has seen the blackcock for a while, so we were all starting to worry. He now lives so near the house that the shepherd tells me she can hear him calling at last light from her kitchen, but the fact that she has not been able to hear anything at all recently was Continue reading