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Mongolian Birds
I found this jaw-dropping picture of a huge pack of black grouse which was taken in Mongolia – they’re like woodpigeons. Give me ten years and I’ll be taking photographs like this on the Chayne… Continue reading
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An Influx of Bantams
I test the patience of my generous readership when I post about poultry. Suffice it to say that I went to the poultry auction in Carlisle this morning and had something of a spree. Having posted the other day about needing to expand my partridge brooding capacity, I struck gold in the auction ring, coming… Continue reading
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Unexpected Guests
When you are used to living in a remote location, you can either go one way or another on the social spectrum. Some hill shepherds and keepers will talk the hind legs off any passing walker, while others turn sour and introverted. I tend to swing between these poles depending upon my mood – nothing… Continue reading
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Dust-Bathing
With spring now obviously progressing in leaps and bounds, I have been giving more thought to my broodie birds for this coming summer’s rearing programme. I have got quite a good mix (as well as several chicks which are on the way), but it could be that I need a couple more bantams just to… Continue reading
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A Theoretical Shift
Now in my fourth year of working on the Chayne, I am starting to come to terms with the nature of the ground itself. By comparison to arable England, the entire place is probably classed as moorland, but like the eskimos and their snow, there are many words in Scotland to describe land which lies… Continue reading
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The First Skylarks
The skylarks have started to display just 24 hours later than they did last year – I heard my first singing lark this morning, then managed to pick it out as it hung far up over a hillside striped with frozen snow and crispy, frosted grass. It was a beautiful sunlit morning, and perhaps that’s… Continue reading
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Snow Grouse
Yet more snow is now falling in the Galloway hills, and a brisk south easterly wind is making it drift in some places to several inches. It’s not exactly apocalyptic, but the way it’s coming down is pretty unpleasant. There is a smoky mist of driving snow which gets down collars and up cuffs, and… Continue reading
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By Sheer Chance
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve visited the syndicate land down by the Solway which, together with a group of friends, we are working on in the name of red grouse. After our big fire last year (upon which subject a commemorative article will soon be due), it has been amazing to watch the… Continue reading
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Dog Roses
Now that the new stretch of hedge has been made stock-proof, it’s time to think about what I’m going to plant in there. I had always planned on a predominance of hawthorn and blackthorn with the odd rowan, but it’s just too good an opportunity to try out some new species. After all, this new… Continue reading
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A Miserable Walk in the Snow
It was so mild that the forecast was becoming a joke. There were no stars at midnight, and the few specks of rain which fell in the dark felt fat and harmless. Predictions of snow were laughable until the first light of morning began to glow weirdly around the bunched corners of the curtains. It… 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 