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Red Grouse

Richard Bell’s Wild West Yorkshire nature diary,  Saturday,  6th February 2010

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Langsett Reservoir, Peak District

THIS GROUSE stood only 10 yards from us as we drank our flask of coffee sitting on a bench overlooking the moors. Not that we could see further than the ripples of the Little Don river below us because of the fog.

You usually see red grouse in groups - a collective noun for grouse is a covey, as in partridges - so this one looked rather lost on its own. It flew off over the river towards the moors.

Hare

This brown hare was looking lost too by the roadside near Midgley, running across in front of us as we drew near. If hares use distant landmarks for orientation I guess they would be confused by thick fog.

So was I. What do you do when you find yourself behind two cyclists chatting away to each other on a long hill, taking up half the road?

Doing the best I could to ensure that it was safe to do so, I overtook, giving them a wide birth, only to be hooted at by an oncoming car which materialised at that moment.