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Hallelujah!
I was beginning to think that there were no black grouse left on the Chayne. Nobody has seen a bird for over two years, and since then they seem to have fallen off the map altogether. My repeated searches across every likely acre of the farm have failed to show fruit, and as I tumbled… Continue reading
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Bringing out the worst in our wildlife
Over the last few days, the Chayne has stepped boldly into spring. Before now, I observed the arrival of the first cuckoo and the first swallow as signs of a coming change in the seasons, but with the arrival of the first lambs, there can no longer be any doubt. Spring is formally here. All… Continue reading
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Hare’s tail cotton grass
It hasn’t taken long for the stock proof heather laboratory to come into its own. As an experimental “sheep free” zone, I built the enclosure to see what would happen to the moor if there was no livestock on it at all. Already, it is looking greener than the surrounding area and stiff shoots are… Continue reading
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Gladiators
Unbowed by my failure to see black grouse lekking in the evening last week, I returned this morning at the crack of dawn for another awesome display of hormonally charged dancing. There is something worryingly addictive about watching a lek, and I wonder now how I will manage when the season passes away and the… Continue reading
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A series of unfortunate events
Walking down a rough track to check on the trees this morning, I spotted a tiny black lump lying on the verge. Closer inspection revealed it to be a dead water shrew, smartly decked out in black velvet and a white waistcoat. I picked it up and examined the body to find that blood had… Continue reading
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Dawn chorus
Most of my information on black grouse is currently coming from an extremely unlikely source. I recently bought an old hard backed book called “six pointer buck” by David Stephen, and when I opened the front page, a shower of article clippings fell into my lap. Sifting through them, I found that they were all… Continue reading
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And still more juniper…
The long woodcock strip now lies in three sections. Part has been opened up with a long ride and a series of clearings, part has been brashed to a height of six feet and the remaining two acres have not been touched by a chainsaw. The ride and the series of clearings were designed to… Continue reading
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Lacking lekking
Having had such a resounding introduction to black grouse lekking displays on Sunday, I was determined to see more. I was widely assured that the birds perform a similar but less spectacular form of the behaviour just after the sun sets, and 7 pm being a far more sociable hour than 7am, I was keen… Continue reading
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My first lek
My work to regenerate black grouse habitat on the Chayne has drawn all its energy from my imagination. I have seen etchings and illustrations of black grouse shooting in the Victorian age, and local guns in their fifties and sixties still vividly recall the thrill of the sport, but only ever having seen three of… Continue reading
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Black grouse “highways” on the Chayne
One of the main obstacles to the process of encouraging black grouse back onto the Chayne is the fact that there is only one small wood on the entire farm. The birds come out of the neighbouring forestry, find the heather and blaeberry they are looking for, then return to the cover of the trees.… 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 