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Love Thy Neighbour
According to research published recently in the Journal of Applied Ecology, an RSPB study has found that the number of curlews on open ground is positively buoyed by the presence of a gamekeeper. No real surprise there, but the study goes on to look at the impact of woodland encroachment on hill country, revealing as… Continue reading
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A Grit Photograph
On her various travels as a private hire chef, my girlfriend has just returned from a week cooking for a shooting party near Braemar. She took this photograph (above) of a covey of birds on the road up to the shooting lodge, and I thought it warranted inclusion purely on account of its being a… Continue reading
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A Beady Gaze
As a side project, I have resolved to learn more about taxidermy. How this will progress remains to be seen, but as part of my preparations, I received a bag of borax powder and two acrylic grouse eyes in the post this morning. The eyes came from the amusingly named company “just eyes” which operates… Continue reading
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Hand Cutting
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing our small grouse syndicate down on the Solway coast is the huge extent of old, mature heather and the fact that it lies on extremely steep hill faces. It is tricky to burn, since the hill is surrounded on almost every side by forestry plantations, and a lack of management… Continue reading
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The Beetles Go Downstairs
Worth mentioning that the heather beetle attack on the Chayne has taken a new angle. All of the hungry larvae suddenly vanished about three or four days ago, leaving a surprising amount of dead and dying heather in their wake. The little area of heather has been so full of grubs for the past month… Continue reading
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The Cutting Moor
Manchester feels like a very long way away from Galloway, but getting to Glossop by eight thirty in the morning is actually not much of a challenge. A five o’clock start allows for a few moments to drink coffee in the yard, empty the dog and watch the bats frisking wildly through the blueing sky.… Continue reading
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Military Moorland
Heading across country to Northumberland last week, I had a chance to look in on Otterburn range. Otterburn made its name in conservation circles thanks to a study into upland predation undertaken by the GWCT over the past decade. Although it has been quiet ever since the project ended a few years ago, the name… Continue reading
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Diet Detective (part 2)
Just interesting to compare the crop contents of a bird shot on Peak Naze in Derbyshire on Thursday with the “rush-seed-eating” bird I posted about previously. The Peak District bird has a crop full of readily identifiable heather shoots, including some flowers, demonstrating that the annual cycle of grouse food depends hugely upon what is… Continue reading
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Ptarmigan Hills
Having started to develop an interest in hill walking a few years ago, I find that one of the most interesting elements of the pastime is watching other people do it. In my limited experience, human beings have a range of reasons for wanting to ascend steep, challenging mountains, but in Scotland there is a… Continue reading
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Hebridean Ptarmigan
Having passed hundreds of miles of Britain under my car bumper over the past few weeks, it seemed time to catch up with a pseudo-chronological record of events since the start of August. Gannets coasted easily around the ferry as it pounded out from Oban, slicing through the short gap to Craignure. The sun began… 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 