Rejoice! Rejoice! – 22nd December 2008

Whilst the weather may not have been particularly seasonal this morning, with low cloud and and a mild southwesterly, the words resonating in my head certainly were.  Rejoice, rejoice!

We set off up onto the moor to practice quartering.  I had intended seeing if I could control the depth of the bite using just my body language and speed of walk.  However, before we even reached the area I had intended to work Grace on she came across two black grouse – males.  They didn’t sit tight but exploded simultaneously from the heather, one arcing to the right, the other to the left – like black fireworks against the white low cloud.  A completely symetrical flush that may, in days of old, resulted in a right and a left.  As the birds rose Grace’s backside hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, she didn’t attempt to move a muscle and just watched them away.  Rejoice – I could hardly believe it.  I made such a fuss of her that she was wound up for the next hour.  We did a bit of quartering but that wasn’t really the focus of the morning.  A little while later I disturbed a pair of red grouse.

I noticed the number of droppings on the moor are far greater than I have ever seen before.  I hope this is a good sign, we will see.  I walked home quite elated.

When I got home and broke the news to my wife that Grace had dropped to the flush she looked at me and explained that as there were two birds to choose from Grace couldn’t make up her mind, so dropped in confusion.  Maybe she has a point, but its hardly fitting with the Christmas atmosphere.  Typical!