Hill of Strone (above Glen Prosen)

Sunday, I climbed the Hill of Strone (512 m) on the south side of the road into Glen Prosen. Across the glen and to the north is another Hill of Strone (850 m). That larger hill is shown in the photo above. There had been a snow storm on Friday and Saturday that left the peaks to the north snow covered. There was patchy snow on Strone. I got there a bit late to try for the larger hill so I parked at the base of the smaller one and headed up. In Scotland, walkers have very liberal rights of access allowing anyone to walk virtually anywhere.

Not far up through the heather, I jumped a pair of grouse. And then more, and after seeing more than a dozen I lost count. Near the top of Strone, I jumped two up close and clearly saw that they were Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix). The wind was high and so they did not hear me approach until I was on them. When they jumped I clearly saw they were large black birds with brilliant red wattles (patches) over the eyes. I had been assuming they were the more common red grouse and I am not sure that I wasn't seeing both species. All appeared to be black grouse whose numbers have been dangerously low but seem to be on the rebound. The photo shows three departing in high wind; it you click the picture you'll be able to view a larger copy of the image. They tend to take off rather slowly into the wind and then swoop left or right across the wind and soar low downwind with great speed.

We do not have these birds in North America. They are central figures in one of my favourite books, Turgenev's variously titled^&Dagger Memoirs of a Sportsman which is a collection of stories translated into English many times. I have read a number of translations and by far my favourite is Isabel Hapgood's translation in which the Black Grouse are called Black Cock, another common name for Tetrao tetrix. As far as I can tell, Hapgood's translation contains the most accurate translations of naturalistic terms. Others variously translate from the Russian as Black Grouse, Heath Grouse and as just plain Grouse.

On the walk up Strone I'd seen tracks in the snow (wondering to myself if they were hare or fox) and I'd watched a single hare run off at high speed over the skyline when I got too close. As I passed the col between Strone and Eskilawn (607) I saw an amazing sight, a drove of white hares frantically running in every direction except mine. These turn out to be Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus). I was able to capture part of the scene on video and I also captured (barely) some grouse in flight. I will include the film in a later post.

As I continued up Eskilawn, the weather deteriorated and the sun dropped lower in the sky and, as it did, I saw more and more wildlife. There are an amazing number of hares and black grouse, too many for me to count (and who could tell how many I'd seen more than once.) With so much prey about, I am quite surprised I only saw one pair of raptors early on in the walk. There are so many eagles and hawks at home in Wyoming.

^[&Dagger] Other titles include, Annals of a Sportsman, A Sportsman's Sketches, Sketches from a Sportsman's Album, Russian Life in the Interior: Or the experiences of a Sportsman, and A Sportsman's Notebook.