LOVELY BRITISH WEATHER !

[Trekmoor]

I noticed several photographs of storm hammered Britain today , this is just one of them and maybe not the worst. I'm glad I live inland now. We've had rain, snow, sleet and hailstones along with very strong winds in the last day or two but Scotland has got off lightly so far compared to western England and large parts of central England. I'm told by the weather men that our storms are blowing over from your side of the pond where snow has been causing big problems ?



Bill T.

[Mountaineer]

I saw some flood photos from Somerset, I believe it was....that flooding has not seemed to get the attention it warrants.

[Trekmoor]

The people in the Somerset Levels get my deepest sympathy. They have been flooded out since early in January . I've heard on t.v. that one small village or area of houses was to be deliberately flooded in order to save the more expensive houses further down the flood plain.... I don't think the government is going to be very popular around there !

This has been just about the wettest, windiest winter I can remember.

Bill T.

[Mountaineer]

Any concern that this weather will negatively affect the red grouse?...where does the grouse population trend lie these days?

What about any woodcock migration change from this weather?

Or, is it little more than weather of the past?

[Trekmoor]

The weather should not be too much of a problem to the red grouse, their breeding season hasn't started yet. At present the trend for grouse populations seems to be upwards .

I'm not in a good position to know much about woodcock ,they are not common in my part of Scotland, the west coast of Scotland seems to have lots of woodcock but I live in Scotland's central belt at the Edinburgh end of it. Woodcock do migrate to here from Scandinavia etc. but most head for the west coast and also for Ireland. There is a small resident population of woodcock in Britain but only once in my life have I ever seen a woodcock sitting on eggs. It remained sitting tight even when I was less than 3 feet from it.

Bill T.

[Mountaineer]

I understand, was thinking that woodcock were more in Ireland....just wondered if anyone was also wondering if the storms and weather would be affecting flights and so birds into bad weather areas...timing would be the kicker, as would the extent and duration of any cold.
I wonder that a bit here for woodcock returning north.
I stopped hunting Ohio in February long before the season shortening but would find woodcock then and will see them now.

Good to hear that the trend is up for the grouse....any particular reason?
Better heather management or predator control...bit o' luck?

[Trekmoor]

Grouse populations always have been a bit cyclic , they crash every several years . I was told it was about every 7 to 10 years but I'm not sure how true that is for good grouse populations also vary over periods of time from one estate to another or from one part of the country to another. For the great majority of shooting men in Britain this does not matter at all because they, including me, cannot afford to shoot grouse anyway ! I have found probably thousands of grouse with my dogs for paying guns or for the guests of the big estates but I could count how many I have shot on my fingers and toes !

Good keepering, good moor management, medicated grit put out on the moors, dew collecting drinking points on the drier moors and keeping on top of the furred and feathered predators all play a part in how productive a moor will be. Winged predation is a problem here for we are banned from doing anything about winged predators . The exception to this law is the crow and possibly one or two types of seagull. I was surprised to discover just how well herring gulls can quarter over a moor looking for eggs and part grown chicks until one of these birds doing this was pointed out to me by the owner of a moor.

Then there is the ever increasing numbers of "ramblers" who demand the right to walk wherever and whenever over the hills and moors even during the nesting season. Add to them the dog walkers who think they will take Fido for a nice run about up in the hills and the trail bikers who seem to go wherever they please too and a keepers job becomes a busy one !

One landowner down in the Scottish borders was called by his keeper to tell him someone was out shooting on the moor very early on the opening day of the grouse season. They went to find him and it turned out the very happy man with the shotgun was a recent immigrant from China. It seems he'd thought going out to shoot grouse on the 12th of August was "traditional" and he just wanted to fit in with the rest of us ! He was released with a promise from him that he would not do that again. When that landowner told me about this he was laughing his head off ! Must admit it made me laugh too.

Bill T.

[Mountaineer]

Yes, in parts of the range, our ruffed grouse exhibits a population cycle....in other areas of the range it does not exist.

Dew collectors would be a bit like the so-called guzzlers on the plains....dew though has been lacking in this last drought.

Hikers to the Chinese to herring gulls...struggles all.
Seems as though I recall some immigrants in Minnesota ignoring game laws and seasons and property lines...not sure that "happy" would be a good description of that particular group though.

Thanks for the information.

[polmaise]

I understand, was thinking that woodcock were more in Ireland....just wondered if anyone was also wondering if the storms and weather would be affecting flights and so birds into bad weather areas...timing would be the kicker, as would the extent and duration of any cold.
I wonder that a bit here for woodcock returning north.
I stopped hunting Ohio in February long before the season shortening but would find woodcock then and will see them now.

Good to hear that the trend is up for the grouse....any particular reason?
Better heather management or predator control...bit o' luck?

For Grouse,Heather has a 7 year cycle. Good land managers burn it every 7 years ,and bad land managers burn it in the wrong places.
Woodcock in Scotland is far more prominent in the west,where Grouse numbers are showing higher returns in the East.
The prevailing wind (and rain) play's a bigger part than the owner of the land .
The grouse keeper of a successful moor or an area for woodcock is often one that has more land management skills than shooting or dog training.