News

GROUSE SUFFER BRITISH WEATHER LOTTERY

1st August 2006

2006 Grouse prospects from the Moorland Association

Torrential rain in May has given way to searing heat and tinder dry conditions on the moors – neither is good for grouse. The most optimistic reports from the hills suggest estates will operate only one out of every four days shooting – but this represents an increase of nearly 50% from last year’s severe ‘crash.’ For many grouse moors, despite the 365 days of year-round care by gamekeepers undertaking predator control and habitat management, there may well be little or no grouse shooting again this year. It is vital that enough birds are left to recover stocks for future years.

Due to the harsh environment on the moors and the very short growing season, the wild red grouse are remarkably well adapted. Hatching in May and weighing just a few grams, chicks develop fast and are able to fly a few metres and feed themselves on insects at just one hour old. By mid August they are fully grown birds, thriving on an adult diet of fresh heather tips and capable of flying at 80 mph. The weather is, however, a crucial factor in the grouse chicks’ survival.

Said Simon Bostock, Chairman of the Moorland Association: “Last year was a disaster for the grouse. A mild, wet winter, a cool wet spring and an indifferent summer left the grouse stocks on most moors severely depleted. Many moors were not shot at all and a drier, colder winter and warmer and drier spring and summer were hoped for to enable stocks to recover. With such a small breeding stock across the north of England, we could not expect 2006 to be a very good year, but if the grouse have managed to produce large broods that thrive, the result will be that many moors will arrange a few shooting days.”

Winter 2005
Winter was dry and with some cold spells – perhaps the best winter for grouse for some years. This should have helped to keep worm burdens low and to allow strong, healthy birds to pull through the winter and be fit for breeding.

Spring 2006
A warm dry spring is ideal for breeding, but the moors saw cold, wet weather. Three weeks of rain - some of it torrential- came just as broods were hatching in May. Small broods and barren pairs have been seen on the moors suggesting many nests were washed out: also pounding rain quickly drenches newly hatched chicks, leading to hypothermia and death, especially if the hen birds are not sufficiently healthy to mother them properly.

Summer 2006
By contrast June and early July could hardly have been better. The warm dry weather, with sufficient spells of rain to keep the moors moist, was ideal, both for insects and for heather growth, which had been stunted by the May weather. Broods hatching later appear to have fared far better, giving cause for hope that the population is recovering on some moors, especially those with reasonable stocks left last season.

Heat Wave
In the last three weeks, however, temperatures have soared and little rain has fallen. Where the moors have dried out, grouse can become dehydrated and move away. Grouse counting in such severe heat is also difficult as the grouse ‘sit tight’ camouflaged in the heather.




Moorland Fires – Fire Severity Index Flawed
By this last weekend the moors had been tinder dry for days and devastating moorland fires have already engulfed at least 1800 acres of some of Britain’s most precious habitat for wildlife. However, the local relevant authorities are powerless to close open access land on the moors unless a new MET office system, brought in after the Countryside Rights of Way Act by the Countryside Agency, triggers a ‘Level 5 – extreme fire risk’ alert.

Explains Simon Bostock: “Gamekeepers and moorland owners have reported that the moors have been at extreme risk of fire across the north of England, despite the new Fire Severity Index (FSI) reporting lower levels of 3 and 4. For instance, the FSI on Ilkley Moor on Friday 28th July was 4 – even though the moor was ablaze. Either the MET Office is not measuring the correct parameters or the calibration to trigger closures needs refinement. This is the first year the system has been really tested and July has seen the hottest and driest spell since 1976. I am very surprised at the readings from the Fire Severity Index.”

Bostock continues: “We have appealed to the Countryside Agency to take the precautionary approach in respect of open access by implementing emergency closure measures in these conditions, rather that relying on a new and perhaps flawed FSI system. We should certainly use the experience of this summer to refine it, and we will be making our case quite clear in the Open Access consultation scheduled for this Autumn. August is predicted to be as hot as July – let’s just hope we don’t see many more fires like Ilkley moor before the summer’s out.”