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The Letterbox Trap
A stroke of fine good fortune has today seen me on the receiving end of a prototype ladder trap designed and built by Solway Feeders. It certainly looks like a promising piece of kit, and given that I’ve seen similar contraptions working wonders on corbie crows from Caithness to the Peak District, I’m keen to… Continue reading
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Farming for Grouse
Over the past three years of my project (and two of this blog), I’ve learned a great deal. When I started, I had never even seen a lek or heard a drumming snipe, but visiting the Chayne every day has been very revealing. Ultimately, I hope to get black grouse back to the stage at… Continue reading
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First Lessons
In the past few days, Scoop has been introduced to her first lessons in retrieving. Using a stuffed canvas dummy, the little dog has been showing some great potential, particularly in her ever improving ability to concentrate, follow a scent and see a task through. I’ve been throwing the dummy for her just a couple… Continue reading
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Hard Times
Walking on the hill this afternoon, it was interesting to see just how little is available in the way of food for the red grouse. The snow has been lying since the start of the month, and successive frosts have baked the powdery covering into a white shell. Here and there, a tuft of heather… Continue reading
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Boring But Important
Despite the fact that the new hedge has now been fenced off and made stock-proof, there’s still alot of work to be done before it can provide black grouse with any advantages. Indeed, an unmarked fence in black grouse country can be an active danger to low flying birds who are liable to crash into… Continue reading
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Vulpine Serenade
After a hard evening’s duck flighting yesterday, I had hoped for a good night’s sleep. It was not to be. As I took the pup out for a final wander up the hill at midnight, I heard an old dog fox yammering to himself on the other side of the valley. It wasn’t nearby, but… Continue reading
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Two Years of Working for Grouse
Forgot to mention that on the 27th January, this blog celebrated its 2nd birthday. Many thanks to the various visitors who continue to support the blog and the project it is covering both in thought and deed – it’s great to hear from you all! What started out as a way of documenting my obsession… Continue reading
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Out with a Bang!
Tonight sees the end of the inland wildfowling season – and what a damp squib it’s been for me this year. What with the mild weather and having to move house over New Year, I hardly got down to the mud at all this year, and only had one fleeting morning at the wigeon at… Continue reading
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The Next Step (Hedge-wise)
After a few days of miserable but intense work, the one hundred yard section of rotten fence has been torn down and replaced with two new fences to form an enclosure for a section of hedgerow. The gap between the two fences is just a little over three metres, which should be enough to stop… Continue reading
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The Encouraging Rat
After three months of feeding wild birds with my pheasant hoppers, I finally have concrete evidence to suggest that pheasants and chaffinches are not the only ones to be benefitting. On the offchance, I set a Fenn trap in a wooden tunnel beside one of my hoppers last month. This morning, I had a visitor.… 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 