Bog Myrtle & Peat

Also, having just picked two of the little buggers off my legs, it’s worth mentioning that I have never known a year like this for ticks. The Galloway hills have been absolutely covered with them since late May, and the past few days have seen a real peak in activity. Ticks prefer some people more than… Continue reading

This blog has lain quiet for the past few days due to the fact that I’ve been away shooting. I could wax expansive on the many delightful details of sport with grouse and snipe in Aberdeenshire and Galloway, and I could try to set down the dramatic thrill of roe stalking under a rushing thunderstorm, but I… Continue reading

Having moaned about the end of summer, there was some pleasant compensation for the changing seasons this afternoon as I drove into town past a large gathering of curlews feeding on the yellow stubbly remains of a silage field. The rain drummed and the wind blew them over, but this was their first appearance in this… Continue reading

A particular highlight of my birthday weekend was in finding what seemed to be two ring ousels on the hill while stalking at first light yesterday morning. It seemed odd to find blackbirds so high up on the granite scree banks, and there really could be no other explanation for their presence as the sun… Continue reading

Quite astounding to read the announcement this morning that the RSPB aims to translocate golden eagles from the Highlands to the Southern Uplands in a bid to improve the species’ conservation status South of the Highland line. This flies in the face of the perpetual notion that gamekeepers are killing all the eagles by implying that the Highlands have… Continue reading

Despite not shooting yesterday, I did get a chance to wander on the hill for an hour or two with the dog in the early evening. This is often a particularly gloomy time of year for the Chayne, since the cavernous absence of young birds is suddenly telling. This year, all the curlews failed again… Continue reading

With all the publicity around grouse shooting in the press, I have bitten my tongue for the past month and tried to keep out of it. There are so many flagrantly self-interested parties in the discussion around the sport that I am reluctant to fuel their excitement by engaging with it all. I’ve been as irritated by some of the… Continue reading

Having splashed out on a new fishing rod last week at the CLA, it was time to give it a run for its money in the Galloway hills above Newton Stewart. By comparison to my old 10′ #10 rod, the new 9’6″ #4 Greys is extremely whippy and delicate. Even a soft breeze will bend it, and… Continue reading

It was a stirring sight to see thirty galloways and belted galloways in the ring at the Stewartry Show this afternoon in Castle Douglas. The sun shone off Cairnsmore of Dee and up to the Glenkens, and the beasts bellowed through their frizzy fringes and whisked their back-combed tails. As a very small child of… Continue reading

Walking back to the car after a successful stalk last week, I noticed a dark brown shape in the bracken ahead. The dog was at my heel, and I had her lie down as I searched for my binoculars. As it happened, it was a very good buck standing around seventy yards away, thoughtfully meandering… Continue reading