Coverdale, Yorkshire Dales, UK 12th August, 2014. Hill grouse in Flight over Little Whernside Grouse shooters firing shotguns on The Glorious Twelfth, the official opening of the British Game shooting season on the grouse moors. The date itself is traditional; the current legislation enshrining it is the Game Act 1831. The red grouse is fastest bird on earth and manages a staggering 80 mph in just a few beats of the wing, and is unique to Great Britain and lives out on the heather moorlands of Northern England and Scotland and on the North Yorkshire Moors alone.
The Glorious Twelfth is a term used usually to refer to 12 August, the start of the shooting season for Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica), Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This is one of the busiest days in the shooting season, with large amounts of game being shot. The date itself is traditional, the current legislation enshrining it is the Game Act 1831 (and in Northern Ireland, the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985). The red grouse is fastest bird on earth and manages a staggering 80 mph in just a few beats of the wing. This lovely bird may, however, may want to think about a no-fly zone for a few weeks as August 12th, aka the Glorious 12th, is the official opening of the British Game season, with the red grouse, a much prized ‘bag’ for the hunting-shooting-fishing brigade. The red grouse is unique to Great Britain and lives out on the heather moorlands of Northern England and Scotland and on the North Yorkshire Moors alone, the hunt for little bird contributes an astounding £50 million to the local economy: from the hunters who fill up their Range Rovers at local garages, stay in hotels and lodges, eat in restaurants, to the jobs created for beaters, loaders and gamekeepers, not an amount to be sniffed at. Shooting the prized bird on the Glorious 12th, according to William Langley in The Telegraph, can cost you up to £50,000 for the day’s shoot with this season’s typical party of eight guns, accommodation, commissions, tips, ammunition and refreshments. Little Whernside is immediately adjacent to Great Whernside and overlooks Coverdale to the west and the wild moorland reservoirs of Angram and Scar House at the head of Upper Nidderdale to the east. Located in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Coverdale is an offshoot of the larger and better known Wensleydale. The dale runs east for twelve miles (19km) from it's head high in the moors to where the River Cover merges with the River Ure below the village of Middleham.
Size: 3600px × 2400px
Location: Coverdale, North Yorkshire, UK
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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