made my annual pilgrimage to see black grouse yesterday with my old derbyshire buddies. a great trip company wise but the birding was not very good compared to the previous 11 years. the lowest count of black grouse ever followed by only small numbers of other species. the birds just do not seem to be around and not just where we went, it seems the bad winter has cleared many species and numbers out to pastures south of here. anyway a bad days birding is a lot better than most things i can think off, hm i am thinking about that last comment
.blockcock 20 ( previous counts 76-74-62- and all other years in the 40s
greyhen 1
hen harrier
buzzard 2
red grouse 5
others of note
19 purple sands
60+ eider
barnacle geese
25 ish pintail
tiercel
terry whalin
