Fun in the snow in Swaledale

We all had such fun in the snow- sledging and skiing!
The grouse were hungry as snow had covered up all the heather- their main food source. They came down from the moors to eat the hawthorn berries. This was the first time we had ever seen grouse in the trees- they are very clumsy and don't balance well in the branches like other birds used to roosting or feeding in trees. We saw about a dozen grouse at Blades in the trees above the village and even down below Laykin.