Not to begrudge our British brothers in arms, but why oh why, Lord, can't that be our story here in New England?
habitat - although it is a different environment the grouse moors have returned to burning the heather ( think of the old burnings for quail down south) while clear cutting few acres of mature timber here will have the "environmentalist" on you in a New Yawk minute.
Also, there has been serious efforts to severely reduce the parsite carried by sheep and red deer that has plauged the red grouse.
there would never be the numbers of Ruffed Grouse that there are of Red Grouse in Scotland
but in either case, habitat and predation take their tool, more habitat + less predation = more grouse.
only in the Highlands could this be no birds to be found, we saw only about a hundred that day.
