The more heather I burn and see burnt, the more I’m learning. We’ve now had three burning days down on the coast, and while two have been a little on the damp, cloudy side, one was a bright, breezy day in perfect conditions. Heather burning is about far more than just dropping a match, and Continue reading

For all I complain about commercial woodland on this blog, I must admit that I do see some value in trees. Not that I’d consider planting them in symetrical blocks a la Forestry Commission, but rather that they can provide some great habitat for all sorts of wildlife. The last thing I want is to Continue reading

We’re now getting into the prime heather burning season, but the last few days have been miserably wet and there seems to be no end in sight for the rain. I had a great day burning heather with a new moorland management project a few miles south of the Chayne, and I’ve been looking forward Continue reading

Continuing with the theme of changing seasons, I found the first cotton grass flowers of the year this morning up on the hill. The camera was wet and the photograph is not exactly a work of art, but it’s possible to get an impression of the weird silvery flowers just emerging from the stalks. In Continue reading

A chance encounter yesterday presented a great opportunity to do some heather burning, and it seemed too good to miss. Heather on the Chayne is hardly present in sufficient quantities to burn, so it not only means that I’ve got alot of work to do, but it also means that I seldom get a chance Continue reading

The soil samples have produced good news and bad news. The good news is that the testing itself was not very expensive. The bad news is everything else. The field I intend to put under a black grouse friendly crop has a soil pH of 4.9 – extremely low and conducive to the growth of Continue reading

Over the past three years of my project (and two of this blog), I’ve learned a great deal. When I started, I had never even seen a lek or heard a drumming snipe, but visiting the Chayne every day has been very revealing. Ultimately, I hope to get black grouse back to the stage at Continue reading

Walking on the hill this afternoon, it was interesting to see just how little is available in the way of food for the red grouse. The snow has been lying since the start of the month, and successive frosts have baked the powdery covering into a white shell. Here and there, a tuft of heather Continue reading

After a few days of miserable but intense work, the one hundred yard section of rotten fence has been torn down and replaced with two new fences to form an enclosure for a section of hedgerow. The gap between the two fences is just a little over three metres, which should be enough to stop Continue reading

After a wild and mild few weeks, winter has returned with a somewhat half hearted attempt at snow. There have been some decent frosts and the occassional flurry on the low ground, but the hills seem to be holding the white stuff quite well, and it certainly is cold up here. The snow has provided Continue reading