THE CURRENT decline in Scotland’s capercaillie, the woodland grouse, presents a real risk that the bird will soon be driven into extinction. Cautious estimates suggest that we could lose the capercaillie from Scotland in the next 20 to 30 years, but their scarcity makes it desperately difficult to help them at a time when they need support more than ever before. Kinveachy Forest is part of Seafield & Strathspey Estates and is home to one of the last true strongholds for capercaillie in Scotland. While numbers remain viable at Kinveachy, the estate has not been immune to the declines that have struck so heavily elsewhere. Head gamekeeper Ewan Archer manages a team doing everything it can to turn things around for these extraordinary birds, but he is well aware of the challenges they face on the estate. “Capercaillie numbers have been dropping since the
