Wildlife Viewed Through Beer Goggles: 4 North Pennine Upland Ornithology in Spring

I'm still dutifully pursuing my research on wildlife-themed beers so, with today being the day of the vernal equinox, here are three that celebrate spring arriving in the Pennine uplands, starting with the admirable golden plover golden ale. Notice that the bird on the label is legless - is this a subliminal marketing message?

Golden plover have been back on their nesting grounds on Chapel Fell in Weardale for a couple of weeks, where you more often hear their mournful cries rather than see them. A walk on the fell in low cloud at this time of year is a spooky experience, with the birds' calls (listen here) coming at you from all directions out of the mist.  


These are part of a flock feeding in fields near Corbridge about a month ago, at a time when they were just beginning to develop their breeding plumage. They're very cautious birds and I've never had much luck photographing them, so .....

.... most of my pictures tend to be of this sort.

I don't think there is a more evocative sound on moorland than that of curlews during their courtship flights - long, slow glides trailing their bubbling calls (listen to recordings here). They've been back in Weardale for at least a couple of weeks too.

That wonderful sound is made in the bird's throat and in this picture you can see just how large a curlew's throat is when it opens its beak fully - it's really a feathered musical instrument.

And finally, black grouse porter. Strange gurgling calls, aggression, ridiculously plumaged - a description that could refer equally to Friday night beer-fuelled revellers in the Bigg Market in Newcastle and to this magnificent game bird, that I still haven't managed to record in a  decent photo ...... something that I hope to rectify when the lekking season begins again at Langdon Beck in Teesdale. 


Listen to a selection of sound recordings here.

Elusive Black Grouse

Teesdale has a very famous black grouse lek and the numbers of this spectacular game bird seem to be increasing. In winter they sometimes disperse away from Teesdale and I occasionally see them in Weardale in winter, in rushy pastures. This one has taken up residence near Woodland, between Weardale and Teesdale, and I've being trying to photograph it for some time. I'm accustomed to seeing them on the ground but they also like to perch in trees and this one has a liking for the hawthorns beside the road. The first time I tried to photograph it I took the picture through the car window, which confused the autofocus and I got this fuzzy image. When I wound the window down ....

.... the bird immediately took flight, so all I got was a picture of its bum and a lump of black grouse poo (bottom left-hand corner of picture) in mid-air (is this a first?).

Today, when we were on out way down to Teesdale it was once again perched in the hawthorns, and once again it took flight as soon as I stopped the car ..... but at least this time it perched on a fence and I got this distant shot. 


Frustrated again .... but I'll be back. 

Meanwhile a walk along the Tees in the rain, downstream from Middleton-in-Teesdale, was notable for numerous velvet shank Flammulina velutipes toadstools - they are usually associated with freezing weather which they seem to tolerate, but this Christmas warm weather seems to have suited them very well too.