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Purple Progress
Further to the post on asphodel a fortnight ago, it’s worth noticing how fantastically well the heather has done in the stockproof enclosure this year. I’ve been following the progress of the ling shoots since February last year, when they were looking decidedly weak and on the back foot. Since their protection from grazing, they… Continue reading
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Blackcake
Just thought that readers of this blog might enjoy a photograph of my birthday cake – custom made to include a marzipan blackcock at lek. Many thanks to my friend Alison for having made it and to everyone who knows me for tolerating my ongoing obsession with all things to do with grouse. Continue reading
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Pack on the Wing
My girlfriend has just returned from working in Perthshire where she took this photograph of a pack of black grouse. From what I can gather, they were slouching around in a pack of thirteen, displaying and preening amongst themselves before taking to the sky and flying off together. The time will come when I’ll see… Continue reading
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The Glorious Twelfth
It may not seem like much time has passed since snow lay in three foot drifts across the Chayne, but August 12th has arrived and the season has begun. We won’t be shooting the Chayne this year for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I’m not sure what can be shot. I didn’t organise… Continue reading
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Grouse, Trees and Politics
Given the fact that the Chayne is bordered on three sides by commercial forestry of various ages, I was aware that Galloway’s numerous woodland management bodies are involved in some sort of biodiversity work. They’ve planted apologetic stands of rowan and birch amongst their sitka swathes, which serve no purpose other than to show that… Continue reading
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Amazing Insects
You can’t fail to miss the changing seasons on the Chayne. By comparison to the icy silence of January and February, the undergrowth is now alive with sound and movement. While I rant and rave against midgies, the wave of insect life has brought some fairly spectacular beasties to bear on the farm, and common… Continue reading
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Asphodel (and more)
When I fenced off an area of the hill and prevented it from being grazed in February of last year, I had no idea how fascinating the half acre of apparently dead vegetation would become. Within weeks, I began to notice a difference between the area inside the rylock netting and the area outside. Over… Continue reading
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Lucky Shot
Just thought that it would be worth including this incredibly lucky photograph, which I took this evening through my car window. The jay flickered over the road infront of me on my way back from work on the coast, and he stopped for a second in the branches of an ash tree before vanishing again.… Continue reading
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Feathered Incubators
Having seen how black grouse can be reared in captivity and presented with the opportunity to do it myself, I need to start planning the actual process. There is not a huge amount of technical equipment involved in keeping black grouse, and besides the creation of a totally fox proof enclosure, I can look forward… Continue reading
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Blenheim Palace 2011
It’s a very long way to Oxford, and it’s about the same distance back again. I am quite new to the CLA game fair, and last year was my first year. Overwhelmed as I was by the sheer scale of the show at Ragley Hall and by having accidentally bought ferrets, I headed south this… 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 