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A Second Flight
I had such a fine time watching the goshawk flying after blue hares last week that when I was invited back on a nicer day, I was thrilled to bits. Although the forecast promised a fair mixture of cloud and sunshine up in the hills, it was obvious that rain was going to prevail once… Continue reading
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Over!
It has now been more than a month since I last visited the fantastic estate in Scottish Borders where black grouse have become extraordinarily abundant thanks to solid management and efficient predator control. Passing through again yesterday morning, I stopped by the roadside to listen for any sounds of autumn lekking going on up above… Continue reading
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Impromptu Shoot
I need to get into the mindset whereby I look at the Chayne as somewhere to offer sport. Having spent the last year working to develop habitat for wild game birds on the farm, I have put the prospect of actually pulling the trigger to the back of my mind. On the spur of the… Continue reading
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European Delights
We can learn alot from Central and Eastern Europe. When I went to Hungary for a week last year, I was amazed by so much of what I found. The trip was booked in order to have a look at a former communist block country, and as a result, I was expecting to encounter numerous… Continue reading
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Liver fluke
When I was at school, the word fluke applied to a moment of extreme luck or good fortune. It was a good thing to be described as “flukey”. In the context of rabbits, however, the application of the word fluke is decidedly less positive. I posted something about liver fluke in rabbits a few months… Continue reading
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Wow!
I’ve always wanted to try falconry. It is something that I have been looking at for years, but never really had the opportunity to see it at first hand. When I was kindly invited by a hawking friend in Edinburgh to spend a day with him in the hills of the Scottish Borders, I could… Continue reading
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Heather Restoration Workshop
By a miraculous stroke of good fortune, I had the chance to join in with the Heather Trust’s recent heather restoration workshop near Edzell in Angus on Friday. Despite my fascination with all grouse species, my technical knowledge on the subject of heather is practically non existent. Placed in an environment alongside some of the… Continue reading
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Success?
Ten days after putting out feeders for the stray pheasants in the windbreak above the farm buildings, I have to report an uncertain outcome. All of the maize I scattered around the wood vanished very quickly, but I think that I can put the majority of that down to chaffinches, which, when I visited again… Continue reading
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Guest Appearance
Ever since I started ferreting, I have been wondering what else my ferrets would be able to bolt besides rabbits. I have read stories of little owls, rats and fox cubs coming charging out from the safety of a rabbit hole when they feel threatened, but always took most of these tales with a pinch… Continue reading
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A trip to Caerlaverock
Having criticised the law defending barnacle geese in a post on this blog last week, I decided to head down to WWT Caerlaverock this afternoon to take some accompanying photographs and to have a closer look at some wigeon and teal. Caerlaverock is literally smothered in wildfowl at the moment. Within seconds of pulling up… 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 