Defending the Family

There are newly-hatched chicks everywhere out on the moors at the moment and different birds have their own particular strategies for deflecting attention from their offspring.

This pair of grouse, which we encountered on the moors above Blanchland in Northumberland yesterday, just stood on the wall a few feet away from us, hoping that we'd look at them rather than search for their chicks, but...

....the curlews went for the hysterical approach, filling the valley with their alarm calls that at times sounded almost like dogs yelping. It's a stressful time for these avian parents at present.