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Summer Foxes
Over the past few weeks, the fox cubs have been growing. They’re also getting more confident, foraging further and further away from safety. I had a thrilling encounter with a gang of fox cubs on Saturday night, squeaking them in as they gambolled through the long grass just after midnight. There’s something quintessentially summery about… Continue reading
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Four Week Partridge
Continuing with the series of partridge pictures, here’s a photo I just took of the single grey partridge at almost precisely four weeks old. He’s come on in leaps and bounds, but I’m very conscious of the fact that he’s been on poultry feed, which doesn’t have nearly a high enough protein content for him.… Continue reading
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Young ‘Uns
After the stress of Monday’s bloody hatch of pheasant chicks, it’s worth mentioning that I now have seven healthy chicks beneath a broody. I know this is effectively the most basic thing for a would-be gamekeeper to have done, but it’s been a real thrill and amazingly satisfying to sit and watch. It’s still early… Continue reading
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Combat
July is a pretty dull month if you’re a ferret. Rabbits are all breeding, the grass is too long and work is out of the question. It’s just a matter of passing the time until the first frost, so my selection of four little bailiffs have been lying idle since the first week in March.… Continue reading
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A Pigeon Morning
Now that the game crop has been in for five weeks, the field is looking a great deal greener. Incessant rain has turned the seeds into respectable young plants, and they have now reached that pleasing stage at which they ripple when the wind blows. I’ve been worried about the amount of grass which has… Continue reading
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A Traumatic Hatch
After twenty four days, my pheasant eggs began to pip. I had to head up to the game fair at Perth (or what remained of it) on Monday to pick up some pieces, and left the broody hen on a nest full of chicks which were visibly chipped. When I got back in the evening,… Continue reading
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Three Week Partridge
At three weeks old, my single grey partridge is really coming on. In fact, he’s done so well that he’s been attacking the quail which share his brooder. On of the quail was so badly beaten up that I really wondered if it was going to live, and the only thing I could do was… Continue reading
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The Big Adder
Also worth noting that I saw the biggest adder I’ve ever seen on Friday afternoon. Scoop the labrador actually trod on it as she charged down an overgrown track, and it reared up behind her. Perhaps it’s easy to exaggerate the size of snakes because we’re so unused to seeing them and our natural reaction… Continue reading
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(Thunder &) Rain Stops Play
Thanks to a thunderstorm at some point during the past four days, my internet connection has gone again, which explains the lack of new posts on this blog. At some stage before Christmas (optimistically), a man from BT openreach will come pootling up the road to the house and ponder the problem while he drinks… Continue reading
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Oh Dear
Full article, video and quote from the RSPB (who are turning a blind eye on the incident) can be found by following this link to the BBC website. I like ospreys, but I must admit that there is some grim humour here which almost borders on a sense of justice. Passing it off as an… 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 