It was an early start to film the Black Grouse. The male birds were active at 6.00am leking with their male counterparts before moving off to their feeding grounds on the moor. The all-black males have distinctive red wattle over the eye and show a striking white stripe along each wing in flight. They have a lyre-shaped tail which is fanned out and raised to show white under-tail feathers when displaying. The smaller grey-brown females have a slightly notched tail. Habitat loss and overgrazing have resulted in severe population declines which make this a Red List species. Positive habitat management is helping them to increase in some areas.

Black grouse are distinctive looking gamebirds of northern Europe's woodland and moorland. Like their close relatives, Capercaillies, male black grouse put on an impressive display in the breeding season. At dawn, the males gather to inflate their necks, raise their tails and make a bubbling 'rookooing' sound. At stake is the chance to mate with more of the watching females than any of the other males. Black grouse are also known as blackcocks and greyhens, because of the colour of the male and female birds respectively.