{"id":1882,"date":"2013-04-22T12:44:29","date_gmt":"2013-04-22T11:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1882"},"modified":"2013-04-23T08:22:06","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T07:22:06","slug":"black-grouse-bonanza-day-1-nothing-to-grouse-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/birdwatching\/black-grouse-bonanza-day-1-nothing-to-grouse-about","title":{"rendered":"Black Grouse Bonanza Day 1; Nothing to grouse about"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I drove to Peth Head Cottage<\/a> on Thursday afternoon, the rain was hammering against the car windscreen.\u00a0 Friday’s forecast was good though so, after a meal at The Travellers Rest<\/a> in Slaley, I reminded Derek and Deirdre that we would have an early start the next morning.<\/p>\n

19\/04\/2013 05:00…the incessant ringing of the alarm pierced the depths of my sleep and I jumped out of bed, showered and opened my bedroom window.\u00a0 The dawn chorus, mainly Blackbirds, Robins <\/strong><\/em>and <\/strong>Song Thrushes<\/strong><\/em>, was deafening, and the last remnants of rain were pattering down as we set off across the moors to a Black Grouse<\/strong><\/em> lek.\u00a0 Roe Deer<\/strong><\/em> were watching us from a roadside field and a Tawny Owl<\/strong><\/em> flew across in front of us, no doubt heading for a secluded daytime roosting site.\u00a0 First lek site, no birds, second lek site two Greyhens<\/strong> <\/em>and a distant altercation between two Blackcock<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>along a drystone wall as Curlew, Snipe, Oystercatcher <\/strong><\/em>and <\/strong>Lapwing<\/strong> <\/em>displayed nearby and a Common Buzzard<\/strong><\/em> lumbered its way across the horizon.\u00a0 A third site produced the goods though as, adjacent to a field filled with summer-plumaged Golden Plover<\/strong><\/em>, two Blackcock<\/strong> <\/em>were strutting their stuff for the benefit of three Greyhens<\/strong><\/em>…who watched them with what appeared to be complete indifference \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

After returning to Peth Head for a delicious, and very filling, breakfast (accompanied by Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Siskins, Robins, Dunnocks<\/strong><\/em> and a Reed Bunting<\/strong><\/em> on the feeders just outside the dining room window) we set out again.\u00a0 By now, the sun was up, bathing the moors in sublime warm tones, and Derek spotted the tell-tale white flash of a displaying Blackcock<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 This bird was strutting around next to two Greyhens<\/strong><\/em>, head down, tail up, pausing occasionally to stand bolt upright before jumping in the air and singing.\u00a0 Just beyond the lekking lothario, a Short-eared Owl<\/strong><\/em> was quartering the moor.\u00a0 Backwards and forwards on long narrow wings, the owl flew closer to our position, until eventually binoculars were put down when the field of view was completely filled with yellow-eyed menace as the owl flew over the bonnet of the car before veering away just inches from the windscreen.<\/p>\n

Deeper into the North Pennines AONB<\/a>, over moorland liberally sprinkled with pairs of Red Grouse<\/strong><\/em>, <\/strong>flocks of Golden Plover<\/strong> <\/em>flying around and giving their plaintive call, with a Dunlin<\/strong> <\/em>easily picked out in one flock by it’s small size, and farmland with Brown Hares<\/strong><\/em> chasing each other, Derek’s sharp eyes picked out a bird on telegraph wires…and we had our first Ring Ouzel<\/strong><\/em> of the trip.\u00a0 Singing it’s simple song, this could well have been the bird that I watched with Sarah in late March<\/a>. A pair of Ring Ouzels<\/strong><\/em> followed soon after, staying just ahead of the car as we traversed a narrow road high above Weardale.\u00a0 Deirdre spotted several displaying Blackcock<\/strong><\/em> and we passed from Weardale into Upper Teesdale.\u00a0 Walking the remote moors produced close views of Red Grouse, Golden Plover, Wheatear, Skylark <\/strong><\/em>and <\/strong>Meadow Pipit<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>before a completely unexpected find; for a second I wasn’t sure what I was watching, as a large brown and white bird drifted over the moor with deep lazy wingbeats, but as I lifted my binoculars I could barely contain my excitement as I let Derek and Deirdre know that there was an Osprey<\/strong> <\/em>flying by!\u00a0 We watched the bird as it hovered and then dived into a nearby reservoir, but it’s departure route took it out of sight so we didn’t see if it was successful in its hunt.\u00a0 A pair of Goosander<\/strong> <\/em>were feeding along the reservoir edge and, as they eventually crossed the open water, they picked up a Tufted Duck<\/strong><\/em> for company.<\/p>\n

I had a hunch that Black Grouse<\/strong><\/em> would be lekking late afternoon, so we returned to a site that had held just one resting Blackcock<\/strong> <\/em>earlier in the day.\u00a0 Sure enough, ‘the boys’ had gathered for a bit of a barney; 15 of them had turned up – seven obvious pairs of combatants and one bird sitting off to one side holding his wings, head and tail in the typical display posture but just standing still and watching the series of duels that were taking place in front of him.\u00a0 A couple of them broke out into physical fights, and all of the birds were calling as the lek reached a crescendo before, as if someone had flicked a switch, they suddenly lowered their undertail coverts, lifted their heads, folded their wings back in and started nonchalantly pottering around the gladiatorial arena as if nothing had happened.\u00a0 Just as exciting though, was what was going on above the lek.\u00a0 In my field of view I could see a Curlew<\/strong> <\/em>drop almost vertically before heading skyward again.\u00a0 I raised my binoculars to follow it’s path and as it dropped again it was harassing, with the assistance of a flock of Black-headed Gulls<\/strong><\/em>, a male Goshawk!<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>Open moorland may not be typical habitat for this fearsome inhabitant of our upland forests, but it isn’t the first time we’ve seen one out of context in late April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Back across the moors to Hexhamshire we saw more Red Grouse<\/strong><\/em>, more Black Grouse<\/strong><\/em> and, after a quick stop back at Peth Head we headed out to eat at the Dipton Mill Inn<\/a>.\u00a0 We followed that with a drive into Slaley Forest for Woodcock<\/strong> <\/em>and Tawny Owls<\/strong><\/em> then, before retiring to bed, I stood in the dark outside the cottage and listened as at least four Tawny Owls<\/strong><\/em> called from close by.\u00a0 A superb end to an excellent day \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I drove to Peth Head Cottage on Thursday afternoon, the rain was hammering against the car windscreen.\u00a0 Friday’s forecast was good though so, after a meal at The Travellers Rest in Slaley, I reminded Derek and Deirdre that we would have an early start the next morning. 19\/04\/2013 05:00…the incessant ringing of the alarm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,5],"tags":[519,54,271,133,57,148,172,288,159,175,378,164,25,123,207,453,202,210,208,127,263,116,66,456,89,191,204,145,78,182,235,71],"class_list":["post-1882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birdwatching","category-pennines","category-northumberland","tag-birdwatching-holiday","tag-black-grouse","tag-black-headed-gull","tag-blackbird","tag-brown-hare","tag-common-buzzard","tag-curlew","tag-dunlin","tag-dunnock","tag-golden-plover","tag-goosander","tag-goshawk","tag-great-spotted-woodpecker","tag-lapwing","tag-meadow-pipit","tag-north-pennines-aonb","tag-osprey","tag-oystercatcher","tag-red-grouse","tag-reed-bunting","tag-ring-ouzel","tag-robin","tag-roe-deer","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-siskin","tag-skylark","tag-snipe","tag-song-thrush","tag-tawny-owl","tag-tufted-duck","tag-wheatear","tag-woodcock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1882"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1886,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882\/revisions\/1886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}