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Birthday Blackcock
Today marks a major milestone in the Working for Grouse story – not only is it my 27th birthday, but I have come into possession of a new bird. As of last night, I am now the extremely proud owner of a hand-reared blackcock. A friend in Cheshire breeds black grouse, and I have been… Continue reading
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Helicopter Attack
I was woken up on Friday morning by a helicopter swooping over the roof of the house as it sprayed bracken. It was an unpleasant reminder of last year’s arm-aching days spraying Asulox from a leaking knapsack sprayer. The time is fast approaching for me to get started on this year’s spraying regime, so I… Continue reading
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Grazing Benefits
Coming from a farming family, I suppose that I have a certain reluctance to criticise agriculture and its part in the ongoing destruction of the countryside. Only after four years of working with and writing about wildlife am I beginning to look with a critical eye at farmers, and there is plenty to look at.… Continue reading
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The Twelfth Approaches
It looks like it’ll be a mixed year for grouse across the country after such a shocking Spring and Summer. I was due to cover some high profile days in Yorkshire as part of my journalism work, but all have since been cancelled thanks to counts which seemed to indicate that there were few young… Continue reading
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The Mystery is Solved
It’s now been formally diagnosed. My game cover crop consists almost entirely of bolted radishes. The field has turned an attractive shade of pinkish white, and a sea of flowers stands at almost waist height. This is not what I had planned for, but it’s certainly better than just another field full of closely cropped… Continue reading
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The Wellie Adder
I’ve been really keen to get a good picture of an adder for years. They never appear when I have my camera, and they never stay around long enough for me to go and get it. When I found a baby adder in some young heather yesterday afternoon, I decided that my moment had come.… Continue reading
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Hen Grown
It’s been a month since my silkie x sussex bantam had her dramatic hatch of pheasant chicks. Of the thirteen eggs she sat on, nine hatched. She killed two on their first night, leaving me with seven. Over the past four weeks, one died when it got stuck under a tussock of grass which she… Continue reading
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Judging a Book by its Cover
Some very odd things are happening. This is a black grouse blog and my book is only a small part of the story, so I don’t want to dwell on the subject of the book too much. However, the publicity involved in the book’s publication has raised some interesting questions which are relevant not only… Continue reading
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Leftovers
Driving off the Chayne yesterday, I put up a family group of four crows. They had been huddled next to the verge, and as they rose into the air, one of them dropped a little bundle onto the tarmac. Keen to see what it was, I slowed down and found the tattered remains of a… Continue reading
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Feedback
Despite the fact that my book is formally “launched” on the 9th August, it would seem that some wholesalers have got hold of copies in advance of this date, and to a limit extent, it is now in the public domain. I’ve been giving interviews over the telephone to a variety of different papers and… 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 