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Victory! (of a sort)
The time is fast approaching when these ferrets of mine will start to pull their weight. I would say that they are eating me out of house and home, but the fact is that while they do put away tremendous quantities of meat, it is all leftover scraps and game, neither of which I would… Continue reading
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Finches and thistles
Summer is formally over. Until we receive further instructions from autumn, we are in a difficult middle ground. The chestnuts around the farm are turning and the bracken is almost all gone. Out in the fields above the far shed, chaos reigns. The few pasture fields on the Chayne have become infested with thistles over … Continue reading
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Greylags over the Chayne
One of the first rules of wildlife photography is that you should always have a camera on you at all times. I am not a wildlife photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but by virtue of having a long lensed camera over my shoulder all day and every day, I have got lucky once… Continue reading
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The end of the blaeberry
This first year of my project to preserve and create black grouse habitat has almost come to a close (although this blog is much younger), and as the moor starts to shrink back into inscrutible silence again, I notice that one of my most important plants of 2010 is dying away as well. I first… Continue reading
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Up from below
The woodcock strip has come alive with sinister toadstools. Bit by bit over the past few weeks, red balls have emerged from the undergrowth, thrusting aside fallen sitka needles and dead grass. At first, I took them to be fly agaric, the classic red and white spotted toadstool that everyone knows is deadly. However, as… Continue reading
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Canadas on the cheap
Anyone who has ever tried to buy decoys will readily agree that they are exorbitantly expensive. With whole body ‘pigeons at around £4.50 a shot and wild ducks starting at £6.00 (apart from mallard drakes, which they sell at the garden centre for £3.99 as “pond decoration”), there is clearly a tremendous amount of money… Continue reading
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Crowberry on Criffel
Having lived my entire life under the shadow of the largest hill in south east Galloway, it recently occurred to me with some surprise that I have never climbed it. Looking to rectify the situation as quickly as possible, I set off up the thick heathery slopes yesterday afternoon. It was obvious that… Continue reading
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Evening patrol
It’s been a while since I went out and did the rounds with the rifle. Seeing the afternoon set fair, I headed out this evening for a bit of a wander. Two cock pheasants strolled aimlessly through the rushes where the blackcock sits, but the hero himself was absent. I drove the car up to… Continue reading
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Better than ever
The blackcock is in rude health. Five months after meeting him, I have seen him in a variety of different poses and lights and I now think that he is on the verge of looking at his absolute finest. In April, he was dusty brown on his back as a first year cock bird. By… Continue reading
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So farewell then
Over the past few days, something has been brewing up on the Chayne. I first noticed it last week, when I was driving up to the farm. Dozens of wheatears had gathered together along the topstones of the roadside dyke, and they fluttered and rolled away from the car as I drove. Last year’s adults… 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 