Black Grouse in Brief 23rd March 2026

A planned visit to a Black Grouse lek in North Wales did not work out as we planned. Mark has had some serious health issues, the treatment of which has resulted in the onset of an infection of his bladder that got progressively worse as we headed for Wales but we pressed on. The booked hotel was cheap and it showed and we were the only two guests on a Sunday evening in Llangollen. The town was dead but we nevertheless found a place to eat as the hotel was unable to offer us anything.

Neither of us slept much that night but as planned we left at 4.30am to be in position on the moor before dawn. Driving along the road that bisects the top of the moor Red Grouse flew from the car's headlights. Not the most aerodynamic of birds, one careered crazily towards us in the glare of the headlights and barely missed the windscreen, sheering off at the last moment.

The darkness was complete, not a light to be seen for miles and with the window open the air was cold on the side of my face.

We arrived at the approximate site of the lek and sat in a dazed silence and waited for sounds of the Black Grouse arriving unseen in the darkness.For a while all we heard were Red Grouse, calling from both near and far across the sensed rather than seen heather moorland and then a Snipe joined in. 

A wheezing, athsmatic sounding call signalled  the arrival of a Black Grouse to be quickly followed by others.Then the distinctive cooing bubbling calls commenced as the still invisible birds began to display.

The darkness lost some of its intensity and the grouse morphed into indistinct but visible black shapes, each separate  on its own particular lekking patch and woe betide any other grouse that trespassed.

The light of dawn began to penetrate the darkeness further and the white feathered bottoms of the grouse were visible as the birds moved and displayed. Slowly they materialised as the retreat of night gathered pace until we could see them clearly in our bins.

We counted eight males plus a greyhen (female) that soon departed. The last time I was here there were eighteen.I fear the worst as there is no protection for them on the moor apart from a voluntary code of conduct that birders and the public are requested to observe.

Their display seemed desultory from how I remembered it from my last visit.A couple of minor fights ensued but were quickly abandoned and then the birds seemed to go quiet with one bird apparently giving it up as a bad job, sleeking its feathers and commencing to feed. Maybe it was early in the season or the lack of any females that dampened the male's ardour.

Still it was too dark for photography. Mark was suffering and had to leave the car to relieve himself. It was no good and we realised that we would have to abandon our visit and drive home.

We agreed to spend half an hour with the grouse and then leave. The sun would not have risen by then and any hopes of worthwhile photos had to be forgotten but Mark's welfare was paramount.The grouse could wait until another day

With the light improving all the time I attempted to take some images but had to set the camera's iso to a whopping 26300. The result was just about passable and fifteen minutes later I could drop the iso to half that as the light improved.

Thirty minutes was up and we left. En route home Mark called his local surgery and it was arranged for him to go straight there and to give a sample and get some anitbiotics.The drive was a stop start nightmare as Mark had to try to relieve himself every thirty minutes but we got there in the end. 

We were home by 11am and once Mark was fully fit plan our return to Wales and hopefully get some decent images and spend some quality time with this now increasingly scarce bird