In springtime male Black grouse Tetrao tetrix gather in ‘leks’ in a dramatic breeding display in which several birds adopt a ritualised posture with head thrust forward and down showing bright crimson ‘eyebrows’ to attract a mate. Black grouse populations have dwindled steadily throughout the 20th century. They inhabit upland wood and moorland margins, where recent land use changes such as conifer forestation, drainage and over-grazing have limited their traditional habitat. Today, black grouse are only present in more sparsely populated areas of Scotland, parts of the Welsh uplands and the North Pennines.
Mark Hamblin has worked as a freelance nature photographer since 1995, creating images for international photographic agencies; providing specialist guiding services and working on multi-media conservation projects.
Mark has published and collaborated on several books including Wild Peak, Wild Land - Images of nature from the Cairngorms, Tooth & Claw and 2020VISION. He was also a contributing photographer for the Wild Wonders of Europe project working on stories in Lithuania and The Netherlands.
Mark is a director of the social enterprise company, Wild Media Foundation, who produce communications material for a range of clients as well as working on their own projects. Their current project, SCOTLAND: The Big Picture amplifies the case for a wilder Scotland, and Mark is part of a team of photographers and videographers currently gathering material for a range of media products.
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