Land owner Patrick Laurie claims that Black Grouse would benefit from investment by the shooting community. However we are sure Mr Laurie must already realise that in particular most Red Grouse moor owners go out of their way to destroy these birds already as they regard the Black Grouse as a bird that can cause damage on shooting days just like the Hen Harrier.
If you look at a map of the distribution of the Black Grouse compared to the Red Grouse there are vast areas of Britain, including the Forest of Bowland, where this bird does not exist but where historically it once did. Most of these areas also have a heavy game keeper presence so predation was never the reason for the bird’s disappearance. Nests were trod on in the breeding season and birds generally shot out of season just for taking Red Grouse away from the guns!! Total heather moorland is not what the Black Grouse needs and destruction of what they call the ‘white ground’ is just one example of how not to manage a Red Grouse moor.
The winter of 2009/10 showed that many Red Grouse moors in the North Pennines could not keep Black Grouse alive with a 60% drop in birds. The only recorded increase in Black Grouse numbers occurred on the RSPB’s reserve at Geltsdale in the northern Pennines. During this hard winter when the ground was covered with snow and frozen across the Pennines, Black Grouse flocked to Geltsdale from neighbouring Red Grouse moors to feed on Birch buds, whereas on Red Grouse moors many birds could not dig down to get at bilberry shoots which is one of their favourite foods.
Until a proper management system is put in place it is unlikely however that the voluntary ban will be dropped. Wetter summers may even result in populations of Black Grouse falling even further and less young being produced to retain a healthy population. A shift to the dryer east seems the only sensible solution with areas of the North York Moors changing their management to cater for this magnificent bird.
[...] to find that they had written an article about it. However, it was less pleasing to find that the article wasn’t a reaction to my new book. It was a reaction to and a partial regurgitation of a badly [...]
Is that the same Patrick Laurie that writes the “working for grouse” blog? http://gallowayfarm.wordpress.com/
Dear Mr Laurie,
On behalf of RP I wish to apologise for posting misleading information, which by the way we have now corrected. We were initially sent a copy of a recent newspaper article which as you now say gave an incorrect picture of what you really said in your interview with the reporter.
In the way of compensation, if you would be willing to send a copy of your forthcoming book to us, not only are we willing to post full details of where the book can be purchased, we would also undertake a full review which we would also post on the RP web site.
Please contact us with your reply via the confidential Contact Us link..
Dear Admin.
Many thanks for your retraction and subsequent rewriting of the article covering my black grouse book. My book covers in some detail the reasons why black grouse fell out of favour with the shooting community, and does draw popular attention to the fact that the birds were persecuted as vermin by gamekeepers (amongst others, including foresters and farmers) looking to preserve
their livelihoods.
I come from a strong shooting background, and I certainly don’t expect you to agree with everything in the book (particularly insofar as birds of prey are concerned), but I’ve tried to present the downfall of black grouse in as fair a light as possible. It so happens that shooting has played an important part in the collapse of black grouse, and I made a conscious attempt not to shy away from talking about it. We need to be honest and objective when it comes to talking about the species we favour and the management techniques used to conserve them, whether they be hen harriers or black grouse.
I am due to launch my book this coming weekend, and will certainly bear you in mind if I am left with any copies from the first batch. Unfortunately, my publishers dish books out to me only as and when I formally need them. I will ask them to send you a copy for review, but I can’t guarantee that they’ll do it…
Thanks again,
Patrick Laurie