Red Grouse on the Triangle and Golden Plover arrival

 A had a single Red Grouse on the Triangle yesterday and then saw two flying near Wraggs Quarry and I thni three birds is now the total for Beeley Moor with perhaps a couple of pairs on East Moor. I think the bird in the photograph below is a juvenile with its rather dark plumage and lack of pale edges to the flanks. So the positive news is that they are still breeding, but raising a single yougster is unlikely to sustain the population. I have seen them crossing Harland Edge so there is some interchange with the East Moor birds.

A recent taxanomic decision by the International Ornithological Congress has elevated the Red Grouse back to full species status Lagopus scotica from its previous position as a race of Willow Grouse, Lagopus lagopus. With the likely future treatment of Scottish Crossbill as a race of Common Crossbill it will be the Uk's only endemic species.

Red Grouse

A nice flock of 22 Golden Plover with a Lapwing flock on Syda Lane are my first of the autumn.

Golden Plover

In the hope of seeing a few more wildfowl and waders I've made several visits to Middleton Moor recently and this morning I was rewarded with two Great White Egrets dropping in. They preened for about an hour then continued west. Seemingly only the second time the species has been recorded at Middleton Moor.

Great White Egret

 

Red Grouse feeding on Cowberry

 The Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), which is also known as Lingonberry, has a fairly restricted distribution locally with just a few patches around Beeley Moor and each year, in the late autumn, it attracts the Red Grouse to feed on its berries.

Red Grouse feeding on Cowberry

I think the bird above is probably a juvenile male as it is starting to show the white malar stripe at the base of the bill. There was also an adult male present.

Red Grouse adult male

Cowberry

Cowberry local records taken from the NBN Atlas

Red Grouse - breeding success

 I've expressed my concern several times during the past decade about the decline of the Red Grouse on Beeley Moor (most recently in August 2020) so I was very pleased today when I came across a pair with two well grown youngsters. 

I also heard, and saw, several birds on East Moor yesterday so it looks like the current population could now be in double figures.

Red Grouse - adult foreground with two juveniles

Red Grouse - both juveniles (I think)

I had a decent day again today, in addition to the grouse I saw the Osprey again flying from Chatsworth direction then heading south towards Darley Dale. Also a family part of 3 Whinchat by the Triangle and a single Wheatear on Lumb Lane.

First Wigeon of the autumn - Chatsworth

 Checking the Mallards along the river at Chatsworth I was rewarded with my first Eurasian Wigeon of the autumn plus a single immature female Goosander which are still in short supply.

Eurasian Wigeon - 1st winter male I think

A depleted Emperor Lake held 25 Teal which is the largest count I have had since Swiss Lake was drained.

An immature male Hen Harrier, perhaps one from the successful breeding this year in upper Derwent Dale, has been seen several times around Harland Edge and East Moor during the past week.

a very distant Hen Harrier probably a juvenile male messing with a Carrion Crow

Some positive news on Red Grouse with at least 4 seen on East Moor and a further 2 or 3 on Beeley Moor in the last few days, my largest count for several years.

Red Grouse - GOING, GOING, almost GONE

There could be no glorious (or inglorious!) 12th on Beeley or the Eastern Moors with the Red Grouse perilously close to disappearing altogether. This year I've seen just two pairs on Beeley Moor, which I visit regularly and only a single pair on East Moor. There could be one or two more birds on East Moor which I tend to visit a little less frequently than Beeley and don't cover all areas.

Red Grouse - male

One pair I have seen regularly on Beeley and they should have grown young by now but I last saw them on 20th July with no sign of any young birds then. 

Why the numbers have declined so seriously is a mystery to me. Twenty years ago I regularly saw groups of 15 to 20 birds and in the 60's and 70's I have been told of flocks of a 100 birds.

It must be at least 10 years since there was any shooting on the moor and it's an achievement to see one now let alone shoot one. 

There are foxes and badgers around the moor but I have not noticed any significant increase in number over the last couple of decades.

Raven numbers continue to increase in the area but they are still only present in small numbers around the moor. A few years ago a large group of Carrion Crow numbering over a hundred birds were seen regularly on the moor and whilst there are still large numbers around they appear to spend most of their time around the fields on Screetham Lane and only venture on to the moors in small numbers.

Is it climate change? Climatic changes over the last few decades have been put forward as a reason for the reduction in Merlin numbers in parts of Yorkshire with nesting records showing that the Merlins were gradually moving to higher altitudes and could explain why the Merlin has disappeared from both Beeley and East Moor where there is no opportunity to seek out significantly higher ground.

The moorlands themselves are changing with a decrease in heather and increase in bracken, and birch trees are taking hold in many areas perhaps in part due to dryer conditions.

The Red Grouse can still be found in good numbers a short distance to the north in the High Peak. In many of these areas the moorlands are still managed for grouse shooting and the numbers in some of these areas may be unnaturally high, partly through the removal of all predators, sadly including the illegal killing of birds of prey, but I have even fewer sightings of harriers and other raptors over the moors than I do of Red Grouse.

The thought of Beeley and East Moor without Red Grouse is like fish without chips or salt without pepper, the moors and grouse belong together but I am pessimistic that it will remain so for much longer. I hope I'm wrong.

Red Grouse family on Beeley Moor

The Red Grouse is quite scarce on Beeley Moor so I was pleased to see a male with three youngsters today. I've stated before that numbers have declined during the past couple of decades and I'd be surprised if there are more than five pairs in the Beeley Moor area. 
I've no idea why the numbers are so low. Its a good while since I've seen shooting on the moors so I'm sure that is not the reason. Although numbers may well have been higher when they were managed for shooting. Red Grouse are susceptible to a number of diseases and parasites so that may be a factor.
Whatever the reason it would be a sad day if they were lost from the moors.
The flowering heather looks amazing at the moment.

Red Grouse male with juvenile

Red Grouse in snow

Quite a change in the weather overnight with about 10cm of snow in the valley and 15-20cm on the moor. I walked up Bent Lane to Wragg's Quarry then back down Lumb Lane. It's very peaceful and quiet without the cars!
Around 30 Brambling on Bent Lane with the Chaffinch flock, Stonechat at Wragg's and several Red Grouse displaying. I caught this bird just before it took flight. The light was fantastic.

Red Grouse

Red Grouse in a bush

Ken sent me this photo of a Red Grouse in a Hawthorn bush, not how you usually see grouse although some other members of the grouse family spend a lot of time in trees. I presume this bird was tempted by the berries?

Red Grouse (Ken Smith)

Red Grouse take off

I got a nice sequence of a Red Grouse taking flight off the Coach & Horses rock formation at Derwent Edge yesterday. With more or less continuos drizzle this morning James assisted with editing the photos to make a montage which looks quite effective.

Red Grouse

Red Grouse in heather

With a reasonable weather forecast I decided to go for Red Grouse in the still flowering heather. As I've mentioned before there are too few on Beeley and East Moor to make a search there worthwhile so I went up to Derwent Edge where they are much more plentiful, despite having entered the shooting season.

Red Grouse

Red Grouse - footwear

Ken took this photo during one of the brief sunny spells earlier last week. It's a nice photo for a number of obvious reasons but the most unusual feature for me is that you can clearly see the feet, which are lost in most photos. 
It reminds me of a day a couple of years ago after we had had a deep fresh snow fall. I walked up on to the moor and came across a group of a dozen Red Grouse together. They were walking about quite happily on the snow surface. After they had gone I walked over through deep soft snow thinking that there must be a solid area where they were walking but I could just see the footprints where they had been with hardly any indentation in the soft powder snow. I took a 2p coin from my pocket and put it carefully on the snow surface where it immediately sank - those large feathered feet are the reason, they do a fantastic job of distributing the grouses body weight allowing them to walk on the surface in the freshest snow.

Red Grouse - male (photo Ken Smith)

Red Grouse in the rain

On Saturday afternoon I was back on the moor but it was very grey and raining quite hard. Ken had mentioned a spot where he has seen Red Grouse feeding on the last of the cranberries so I parked up for a couple of hours and watched this young male Red Grouse feeding in the rain. 

Red Grouse

Red Grouse in the sunshine

After raining most of the day yesterday it did brighten up in the afternoon and James and I took the opportunity to photograph the Red Grouse on Derwent Edge, we were also hoping for Mountain Hare but only saw one. It was very windy but at least some of the grouse showed well.

Earlier in the day there were good numbers of thrushes crossing Beeley Moor, at least a thousand, and 50 Brambling was a good count for the early winter period.

Red Grouse

A morning with Red Grouse

Mountain Hare

I did the usual walk this morning up Flash Lane to Beeley Moor with Ken Smith, Roger Carrington and Mel Hayes, it was very quiet but we did have one Red Grouse on the edge of the moor. James was interested in trying for Mountain Hare up at Ladybower so he and I made the short trip to Cutthroat Bridge then on to the moor. 
We did manage distant views of a single Mountain Hare in its all white winter coat but soon lost it and didn't manage any better photographs.
There were plenty of Red Grouse however, which showed very well and a few snow flurries added to the scene.
I find it increasingly difficult to accept the view that there are good numbers of Red Grouse on Beeley Moor but they are not visible because the population is not so high that the grouse are in competition with each other.

Red Grouse

Red Grouse - Derwent Edge

James has been to Derewent Edge overlooking Ladybower Reservoir where he took this photograph of a male Red Grouse calling in the snow. He came across a single large flock which he estimated at 50 birds, there are more photos on The WildLive web site in the birds gallery. I'm still not seeing many grouse on Beeley or East Moor.

Red Grouse - male

Where are our Red Grouse?

Last autumn it was estimated that there were about 30 breeding pairs of Red Grouse on Beeley and East Moors. The grouse showed well with the usual bouts of early morning calling and lekking through to May but since the end of May I have only seen one party of 5 birds in August which were on East Moor. I've discussed this several times with Ken Smith, who has many more hours around the moors than I have but he has only come across 2 or 3 birds on three occasions over the same period plus an odd call or two.
If 30 pairs had been moderately successful they could have raised 120 young increasing the autumn population to around 200.
Populations of Red Grouse are known to fluctuate on about a 6 yearly cycle and so it may just be that we are at the bottom of the cycle but what has happened to the adults?
James was on Bamford Edge a couple of days ago, which is only about 10 miles to the NW, as the grouse flies. He estimated that he saw well over 40 birds in a couple of hours so clearly that population is doing better than ours. He took this photo of a fine male.

Red Grouse - male

Red Grouse - Beeley Moor

Red Grouse - male

James came across a small covey of grouse this afternoon and got a couple of photos of this male.

Red Grouse - Beeley Moor

As expected the Red Grouse were very active in the early morning sunshine but not so easy to photograph, James took both of these.

Red Grouse - female

Red Grouse - male