Pointing dogs tally black grouse before a third North York Moors move

North Pennines keepers ran their annual black grouse count with pointing dogs two days before the Twelfth, joined by the GWCT’s Phil Warren. Counts were lower this year as birds relocated to lower allotments, though local breeding has been good.

The North Pennines holds England’s last stronghold of a bird red-listed as being of the highest concern in Birds of Conservation Concern 5, and the counts, made across the group’s moors, will inform this autumn’s translocation plans.

A third year of moving birds to the North York Moors

Birds from the stronghold will be moved to the North York Moors later this year for a third consecutive year, extending the species’ recovery on to keepered ground where the habitat stands ready.

The Black Grouse Range Expansion Project, funded through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, moved 20 birds in autumn 2024 under a Natural England licence, catching them at night at their roosts and driving them to a site chosen for its mix of habitats. They bred the following summer, fledging 12 chicks, the first confirmed breeding on the North York Moors since the 1840s, and a second cohort followed last autumn.

Why the birds cannot get there on their own

Natural recolonisation is blocked by 30km of unsuitable farmland across the Vale of Mowbray, beyond the birds’ dispersal range.