Christine's walking & birds blog

Suddenly the wide area of grass and mire between plantations was full of airborne black grouse. There was no time to zoom, and I just clicked into the scene as grouse shot off in three different directions against the backdrop of Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich.


Cropping the picture, I was surprised to see I'd caught four blackcock as they flew away; two on the extreme left, two on the extreme right.


They didn't go far, and now and again I could hear them calling to one another as I made my way up the track. There were probably seven birds at least, and one greyhen was sitting some way down the slope in an alder tree.


Where I stopped for lunch, a scattering of dark feathers suggested that something is preying on the grouse. A buzzard floated past at one point, looking as though he knew a thing or two but wasn't telling.

I made a mistake in a previous post (Oct 11); I said the small group seen on that occasion might be a family party. As I read on the website forestry.gov.uk this evening - "male black grouse are polygamous and play no part in rearing young". I should have known that! I've also learnt the male goes into eclipse plumage after breeding (The Birds of the Western Palearctic). I certainly didn't know that - thought that was only for ducks.

It was a cold, brightish day, but for once I wasn't sorry not to be going higher into the hills. It was very wet underfoot everywhere and now and then clouds obscured the tops. I heard what sounded like a crossbill; it probably flew straight over as there didn't seem to be any cones on these conifers, most of which are immature trees.

A single meadow pipit took off in a panic and a goldcrest was heard. Down on Loch Glascarnoch, whooper swans were - well, whooping, I suppose. And then I heard something else in the distance, something that was definitely waderish, something that was familiar - and yet I couldn't place it. It began to rain, and I gave up for the day.