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Breeding Stock
Following the tidal wave of rats, I’ve been struggling to keep on top of all other projects. It was only when a damn rat had a go at one of my grey partridges that I was rudely awakened from the single minded pursuit of scaley-tailed invaders. The cock bird has survived, but I’m not even… Continue reading
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Grouse in Health and Disease
Another miserable, rainy day meant a trip to the fancifully styled “Book Town of Scotland” at Wigtown this afternoon. It’s about a sixty mile trip along the Solway, but the dull journey was made a little more interesting by the fact that we saw a party of little egrets standing on the mudflats at Creetown.… Continue reading
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Fighting Back
Having declared war on the insurgent rat population on the Chayne, I found fresh new evidence of the rats in my garden shortly before bed last night. What appeared to be a rabbit was sitting in the black grouse enclosure – on closer inpection, it was a cracking great big rat feeding on grower pellets… Continue reading
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Radish Seeds
Despite not having gone according to plan, the game cover still seems to have some tricks up its sleeve. The radishes bolted up without producing any radishes, flowered copiously, then concentrated on filling out great big seed pods. By the time the seed pods were finished growing, the plants were so tall and spindly that… Continue reading
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Woodcock Dog
The past few days been almost totally consumed with woodcock – reconnoitering the various rides and woodlands that I have access to has been extremely revealing. Of all the locations I have been scoping out, I’ve only found one or two which would be really good for shooting, but at the same time, I haven’t… Continue reading
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Rat-Attack
There has been a major influx of rats on the Chayne over the past forty-eight hours. Not that those pink fingered demons have come from anywhere in particular – they’ve probably been on the farm all summer and now that food is getting scarce they are becoming more and more conspicuous. I trapped one in… Continue reading
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Flight Night
After my first ever evening woodcock flight, I can safely say that I’m hooked. The past two nights of reconnaissance certainly paid off, as well as similar weather conditions which meant that the birds flew the same lines at almost precisely the same times, give or take five minutes. With three guns lined up along… Continue reading
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A Brave New World
After fifteen years of wearing the same brand of wellington boots, I have been forced to break with tradition. Anyone who spends a reasonable amount of time in the countryside will know just how important wellington boots can be, and Hood’s Bullseyes were my wellies of choice until the company went bust earlier this year… Continue reading
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Lunar Arrivals
The last few days has seen a staggering amount of woodcock coming to the Chayne. Most of them will probably pass the seventy miles on to Ireland in the next few days and weeks, but for the time being, the hill is alive with self important little figures in the lamp light. I found six… Continue reading
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Deterrent Therapy
In an attempt to put a stop to the silkie’s determined broodiness, she has been assigned to new quarters. Her broody coop has been put up on a mesh floor as part of what I understand is an old fashioned technique to take the warmth out of her undercarriage and jolt her back to normality.… 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 