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| Fighting Flurry, Blackcock at Lek - studio pastel sketch on paper |
The reeling warble and throaty squelch call emanating from a Black Grouse lek is very distinctive and usually this is the first sign of an ongoing display by the male grouse, or Blackcock, that you will find. Today we headed for the conjoined Angus glens of Moy and Ogil to track down a small colony of these increasingly rare grouse and to witness a spring spectacle of glistening indigo, curved black, erect white and wattled red. One of their traditional leking places in a field proved fruitless, so we trekked on through the chill breeze that had delivered a fresh dichting of snow overnight to the higher hills. That colder weather was keeping a flock of Golden Plover from moving up to their breeding grounds on the high moors and according to the local shepherd there were fifty of the birds in one of his hill fields and nearby, thirty-five Black Grouse were counted by him earlier, so the local colony is quite good.
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Blackcock lek, bowing posture when calling on left
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Our first sighting of a Blackcock was only a mile away down the track and it erupted from the heather with gusto in a whirr of black and white that eventually landed with a flush of indigo blue across the glen at Bogancur. They are big birds, weighing in at twice the bulk of a Red Grouse and if any bird could wear a medal it would be the Blackcock with its pomp and ceremony plumage. That unique feather arrangement and bubbling call make it one of the world's most unusual birds and we have them here in Scotland, how braw. In a steep gully lined with grass and rush, a burn runs its twisty course and just heard above the sound of its tinkling water there came that peculiar noise of Blackcock at lek where they fight for individual supremacy. Success, we had found this isolated leking site and we quietly watch the lek for twenty minutes. Blackcock have traditional leking sites, but they also seem to gather for a lek in sheltered places with suitable vegetation, preferably areas of rough grass with rush or heather tussocks that provide cover. Before any lek fighting occurs, the birds bow down with their necks outstretched and puffed up to act as bellows to create that fascinating reeling warble and the threatening, squelch call usually precedes the combat.
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| Dominant males facing up |
Feet are the main weapons employed to box an opponent down and a brief, but intense, fight is the climax to many minutes of posturing and calling while in the bowing position. During that fight every feather is held in its display mode where the black, lyre shaped tail feathers are fanned out over the erect white under-tail covert feathers and the iridescent, indigo-black breast is puffed out during the kick-boxing challenge. Wisely, the head is kept back and upright, in classic boxing style, as the blows are delivered. The wings are used in very short bursts to aid the kicking height and during breaks the Blackcock cowers down to the ground with the lyre shaped tail held over its head creating a weird and aggressive shape. At this lek, eight birds are replete with the busy feeling of spring that percolates over the moor. Some content themselves to participate from the side-lines, whilst the three main contenders hold centre stage, but the all important Greyhen audience is nowhere to be seen, maybe it is a little too early in the season for the ticketed performance.
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| The Challenge |
The hills of Ogil and Moy form into a huge amphitheatre of heather, rush and grass with none of the dramatic features that might be associated with its neighbouring glens, the only feature that is prominent is the huge hill top cairn that is St. Arnold's Seat. This area is intensively managed for Red Grouse and in 'model' grouse moor terms Glen Ogil estate must be equally placed with the likes of Millden estate in Glen Esk with prolific investment in new roads, shooter's picnic lodges, game-keepers and management equipment. The estate, which now tenants the neighbouring lands of Moy and Nathro, has recently changed hands from Dodds to Baumbach, millionaire to millionaire.
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| The Defeat |
Let us hope that the Doddsian policy is not carried forward on their balance sheet of raptor persecution and under that policy many raptors were allegedly poisoned, including two White-tailed Eagles and evidence of baiting with the poison Carbofuran was found. These ignorantly extreme and fanatical owners of grouse moors go to the ends of the world to 'improve' their shoot and another classic example of this is the aforementioned Millden estate where a Hansonian policy has led to several alleged raptor persecution crimes where there are no prosecutions pending.
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| Common Buzzards in aerial combat over Glen Ogil |
To me the function, and raptor persecution history of the place is an anathema to my feelings about the hills of Angus yet, and it is a big yet, the place is hotching with life. Let me list what we saw today; Golden Eagle, Red Kite, Peregrine, Kestrels, Common Buzzards, Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Dippers, Ravens, Pink-footed Geese, Mallard, Teal, Lapwings, Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Curlews, Mountain Hare and possible evidence of a Wildcat or Pine Marten.
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| Golden Eagle immature |
The other item on the agenda was the current status of White-tailed Eagles in Angus but nothing was seen. The only white-tail flying was that of a young Golden Eagle quartering the hill-side. She was inspected by one unusually, narrow winged Common Buzzard and then two Ravens hounded her over the heather until the poor bird was out of sight. Not only does a young eagle exhibit a white band on its tail but it has two pale moth spots on the wings which are visible on both top and bottom. By the way, early records regarding eagles include the recording of the immature Golden Eagle with its white banded tail as a separate species called the Ring-tailed Eagle, so modern population statistics that rely on comparisons with some old records can be inaccurate and similarly the immature White-tailed Eagle was recorded as a different bird, the Sea Eagle.
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| Eagle and Ravens, note the moth spot |
I have not seen the pair of adult White-tailed Eagles for a while now, so hopefully they will have tucked themselves away for the spring to nest in some undisturbed quarters, free from persecution. Now, would it not surprise you all if the first nesting White-tailed Eagles in Angus were ensconced in the darkest woods of Ogil - ironic fantasy, don't you just love the twist in justice!
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| Oystercatcher pair |
All the birds of the moor are pairing up at the moment in an effort to make an earlier start to their breeding cycle and to squeeze as much life from the longer daylight hours as possible. Common Frogs have already spawned their eggs into the deeper slacks of the burn and while some of it is fresh and floating, much of the early spawn has sunk to the bottom with a covering of dirty silt. The much criticised hill-track construction that many estates are carrying out has a, grudgingly, good side to it, the drainage pools create a new habitat for amphibians, insects and plants. Aside from the copious amounts of frog-spawn, the pools have Bogbean, Water Horse-tail, Pondweed and Water Starwort.
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| Bogbean and frogspawn |
Mountain Hares are keeping up with the rapidly approaching spring by changing pelage yet again, because it didn't seem that long ago when they were pure white and the beasts must be in a constant state of confusion as to what coat to wear. One unfortunate hare has lost its head over it and lies decapitated at the track-side, but this is unusual, there are three neatly deposited scats alongside the bodiless head. In my opinion they are too thinly extruded for a fox, have pointed ends and are very tarry. Of course my thoughts jump to Wildcat and even Mike thinks that a fox is unlikely, but would a cat leave a head uneaten - have my doubts but, as I have said before, territory marking at this time of year is practised by the tom Wildcat. Wondering now if it might be Pine Marten as a large conifer forest is nearby, the scat has hair and bone through it and the long strands would have connected the pieces.
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| Mountain Hare changing into summer pelage |
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| Hare head and mysterious scat |
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| Emperor Moth cocoon |
Anyway, times change second by second and year by year and life is over before it has begun. I had a stark reminder of that when I pulled out one of my old maps in front of the younger 'accomplice'. A question had arisen about where Dog Hillock was and to solve it I had unfurled a Sheet 42 Ballater map dating back to 1970 with its red cover that sported the price of eight shillings on it. Well it was the wrong map for the area in the first place but it did provide much amusement, aimed at my aching pre-decimalisation age, for Mike.
While I am on the subject of long ago, you would never have seen an excavator on the hills of Angus back then but now it is hard to avoid bumping into them on your travels and many a glen rattles and crunches to the orange beaked tune of its metal toothed bucket.
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| Symbol of an Era; Glen Ogil estate |
Notes;
All sketches and photos done on the day and are copyright.
Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. I do not recommend searching for any of the species mentioned in this blog because this may cause undue disturbance to them. With my knowledge of the areas described in this blog I can locate and observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres for short periods of time only.
Greyhen - female Black Grouse
dichting - Scots for light covering, brushing or dusting.
braw - Scots for good, splendid.
rush - Juncus Effusus or Soft Rush, commonly found in boggy areas growing in lush, tall tussocks and seen in the hare photo.