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When people ask you "What are you doing this weekend", you tell them you are getting up at 2.30am and then driving down to to Teesdale for 5am to watch some birds lekking, you do get a couple of funny looks.
But Mrs Y, Noddle & I did just that and met up at Langdon Beck with other members of the NHSN as we drove off in a small car convoy to the lekking site. Using the cars as a hide which minimised any disturbance, we spent approx 90 minutes watching approx 20 male Black Grouse battling each other for the several female birds that would drop in & out of the lekking area. The weather moved from cold/clear to hale/snow which seemed to cause the female birds to leave the lek, but the males stayed whatever the weather.
We continued with a drive round the local area, which lead to sightings of Short Eared Owl, Golden Plover, Snipe, Ring Ouzel, Grey Partridge along with the usual waders plus a couple of Brown Hares and family of Roe Deer. We headed back to the Langdon Beck Hotel for a hearty breakfast, followed by a great presentation by one of the Black Grouse Officers from the GWCT
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1 week ago
