Having spent the past few days trudging through some pretty dry scientific material about grouse nutrition and territory size for an ongoing Heather Trust project, I bumped into an unassuming paper last night called “phylogeography and subspecies status of black grouse”. The way science is currently being thrown around as a weapon of combat in Continue reading

I caught the tail end of an online debate recently in which an RSPB representative was defending the ongoing failure of a black grouse conservation project on Lake Vyrnwy in North Wales. By contrast to keepered management at Ruabon (which the RSPB recently claimed as their own, for some reason), the birds at the Lake Continue reading

Further to my recent post about grouse mortality over the winter, I am starting to see why losses come in so steadily at this time of year. On a normal grouse moor, it is easy to see grouse cocks standing up proudly on every tussock and grit box, noisily advertising their position to all and Continue reading

I was thrilled to be asked up for some hind stalking in Aberdeenshire last week, and all the more excited to find that the area is home to a seriously impressive population of black grouse. During the course of a few hours out on the hill, I saw more blackcock than are present in the Continue reading

According to the statistics, grouse are most vulnerable to predation during March and April, but I find that there can also be a burst of very destructive predation pressure during the back-end and early winter. Young grouse hens are dispersing into new and unfamiliar places, old cocks become distracted by their obsession with territories again Continue reading

Tragedy struck last night in the high winds. Heading out into the yard for a final check on ferrets and turkeys at 1am, I found that my pet black grouse’s pen had blown over. The five foot square pen section panels which originally formed the basis of a crow cage had simply folded together, crushing Continue reading

Just worth mentioning that I took a quick detour over Langholm Moor this morning on my way out to a project near Newcastleton (of which more to come). As soon as the distinctive silhouette of the moor revealed itself to view from the road outside Kirkpatrick Fleming, I was surprised to see a cock hen Continue reading

Just found this old picture of my favourite blackcock (taken in Feb 2011) who got me started on this career and became the subject of my book. I thought if nothing else that it was noteworthy to see a black grouse away from the lek sites, with wattles invisibly folded away and tail held calmly Continue reading

Well worth noting that during a walk this evening, I found and flushed the new blackcock again up on the rough ground. The wind was strong enough for the dog to air-scent him, and she froze into a classic pointer’s posture with the shining grass rippling all around. When the bird broke into the freezing Continue reading

I had a very interesting day in Wales on Tuesday, looking at heather cutting as a management technique in the Clwydian Mountains and a few miles west on the Mynydd Hiraethog. Wales has a reputation in the sporting world as something of a fallen giant; the traditional home of some of the best upland shooting Continue reading