Red grouse by sheep. Conservation measures taken on foot of the judgment have seen the population in the area double from 400 to 800. The red grouse is considered a game bird and is shot in large numbers during the shooting season which traditionally starts on August 12, known as the Glorious Twelfth. There is a keen competition among some London restaurants to serve freshly killed grouse on August 12, with the birds being flown from the moors and cooked within hours. Shooting can take the form of 'walked up' (where shooters walk across the moor to flush grouse and take a
Winter of 1985–86 in Great Britain and Ireland recorded on the 20th at Cairngorm. April 1986 averaged at which is 2.1 °C below the 1961-1990 average and the coldest since 1922. The temperature reached for the first time on April 4, and for the first time on April 26. There was 19 days of snow at Glenlivet. It was also a wetter than average month. Winter of 1985–86 in Great Britain and Ireland The Winter of 1985–86 in Great Britain and Ireland contained two periods of notably cold weather. November 1985 brought an early start to winter with the month being the coldest in the Central England region