-
Curlew’s End
It so happened this evening while driving off the hill that I noticed a tuft of feathers sticking out of the molinia on the roadside. Slamming on the breaks and sending the dog slithering into the passenger footwell, I leaped out of the car and went over for a closer look. It turned out that… Continue reading
-
The Prize Draw
If this blog strayed now and again into my working life, it would hardly be surprising. I am very fortunate that many of my hobbies are also related to my work, and so while this blog is an outlet for the wanderings of a rabid black grouse enthusiast, it does crossover so neatly with work… Continue reading
-
The North East
Worth mentioning that I have just this evening walked back in the door after a fantastic (and all too brief) tour of Aberdeenshire, Angus and Northeast Scotland, where it seems that black grouse have very little to complain about. More to follow when I can. Continue reading
-
Bright Young Birds
After raking to and fro over the Southern Uplands for the past month, I’ve seen a lot of black grouse. The lek season may just have passed its peak and there are still a great deal more leks to visit, but one rather striking theme throughout the entire South of Scotland is that the incredible… Continue reading
-
A Wet Spring Day
On this sodden April day, I’ve had some 650 year old lines of poetry from Geoffrey Chaucer going round and round in my head – Whan that Aprille with her shoures soote The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour;… Continue reading
-
A Cowal Lek
I was delighted to be invited up to Cowal to help with a lek survey on a piece of ground near Tigh na Bruiach, and found myself wandering through the gloom of Argyllshire at five to five this morning amidst the combined throb of blackcock and the fantastic dry buzz of grasshopper warblers. I normally… Continue reading
-
Snakes Alive?
I am gradually learning through an exchange of blogs with Nicholas Milton of the Guardian that the greatest thing a conservationist can do is identify a problem. Contrarily, the most foolish thing he can do is suggest doing anything about it. If I understand his blogs correctly, Nicholas Milton has discovered that the adders in… Continue reading
-
The Awful Hand
While staying up in the Galloway hills before Easter, I had a spare day to stretch my legs on the renowned and spectacular Awful Hand, the famous range of five hills which runs parallel to the Rhinns of Kells. Many of the Galloway hills have fantastic names, and there is something hellishly inspiring about… Continue reading
-
The Home Team
After all this rushing around to the leks over the past few weeks, I finally found time to walk my own ground on the Chayne at first light this morning. I haven’t been seeing very much black grouse activity over the past few weeks on my quick trips up to check traps and keep an… Continue reading
-
Late Planting
This year’s planting programme on the Chayne has been held up by my extended absences at the leks, so I found a few hours the other day to put in a load of trees on the back hill in an old four acre dyked paddock which has been overrun with bracken. This is perhaps not… Continue reading
About
“Shout on, Morgan. You’ll be nothing tomorrow”
Swn y galon fach yn torri, 1952
Also at: https://andtheyellowale.substack.com
Bog Myrtle & Peat 