Baby Red Grouse

As the forecast was for a glorious day of weather, we decided to have a short day out near Amulree, Perthshire. We were going training in Edinburgh this evening, but had enough time to get there and go up two Marilyns, Meall nan Caorach and Meall Reamhar. These don't seem to be walked on a great deal as there really isn't much evidence of a path. The only parking is at the community hall at Amulree and then it's about a kilometre to a track, leading to a farm. From there, a hill track helps on the first wee bit. At the moment it's also the scene of engineering as the Beauly to Denny transmission line passes through the area. As these are hills less frequented than most, there is an amazing amount of wildlife. We saw many Curlew on the lower slopes, Blue Mountain Hares in summer coat, Larks, Pipits, a pair of Ring Ouzels, Red and Black Grouse and most exiting of all, a Lizard. The flowers were amazing and it was surprising dry underfoot. I practically stood on a baby Red Grouse before it flew off on its stubby wings and then we disturbed another family of 5 juveniles, 4 of which shot off. This one sat still under the heather and is well camouflaged. My wife carefully moved the heather slightly so we could see it better and I got this blip. It's not perfect but you don't often get to see a baby Red Grouse. Look large and you can just make out its eye. As for the weather, we had a few light showers but nothing heavy.