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Here Hare
When you set out to create a wild shoot, you can’t be picky when it comes to which game species responds to your efforts. Although pretty much all of the work I have done over the past two and a half years on the Chayne has been in the name of black grouse, snipe seem… Continue reading
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Aerial Bombardment
Never let it be thought that, while my blog posts have recently become rather intermittent, that work on the hill has slowed down. My various projects continue apace, and the infrequent postings are because of the ongoing chaos associated with moving house, building what will become pens for grey partridges and wearing out an increasingly… Continue reading
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Happy New Year
The last week has been total chaos. Why anyone would ever consider moving house is a total mystery to me – Incessant trips to and from my old cottage have worn down the patience of my friends, family and pets so that I now feel like a broken man. Perhaps one of the most galling… Continue reading
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Screen Sucker
Everyone likes a good gadget, if only for the novelty value. My latest acquisition has been a screenlite kit for my lamping torch, and what a difference it’s made to my lamping up on the hill. All my lamping used to be done on foot with a gun light, but there’s so much room on… Continue reading
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Winter Haunts
Ever since the end of October, the black grouse have become harder to find as they retreated further up onto the hill, beyond the realm of the inbye fields where I walk every day. Last year, they suddenly reappeared in the middle of January on the low ground where a five acre field has been… Continue reading
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A First for the .222
Just a few hours after declaring my intention to start a full scale war on the fox population of the Chayne, the first steps have been taken. The villain responsible for terrorising my partridges over the past few weeks was brought to book under a silvery moon last night. It was the first shot fired… Continue reading
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Chills in the Hills
The snow has been and gone up on the hill. The expanses of standing molinia grass have been flattened by the first drifts and some of the young scots pine trees have had their branches snapped off under the weight of the snow. Although I missed the first morning after the snow fell because I… Continue reading
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Slim Pickings
Having seen a blackcock picking off the last haws of the season on Friday (above), it’s probably going to start getting pretty tight for the birds over the next few months. None of my black grouse have been in the inbye fields for over a month, and they now prefer to spend their entire time… Continue reading
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First Snow
Having waited for snow for more than a month, it arrived at a bad moment. I spent the weekend in east Yorkshire and was away from the Chayne when the first snow fell, but driving back through the hills of Teesdale this evening, I was treated to some great short eared owl action as flurries… Continue reading
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Wandering Greyhens
During the last few weeks, there has been alot of greyhen activity up on the hills around the Chayne. Not that these invisible birds have been making themselves particularly conspicuous, but they have been turning up in unexpected places. One greyhen in particular was flushed on Sunday and flew within a hundred yards of the… 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 