Moorland in the Peak District
Mountain hares (Lepus timidus) were once found widely across Great Britain (until sometime after the end of the last ice age), but now the only remnants of the original population are found in the Scottish Highlands (and in Ireland, where the population is a different subspecies). In the Peak District, it is thought that mountain hares died out in about 6,000bp. The only current English population of mountain hares is found on the Peak District moorlands, and was introduced in the 19th century.
The mountain hare is smaller than the brown hare, with shorter ears and has no black top to the tail. They are much easier to tell apart in winter, when the coat of the mountain hare turns white (often with a somewhat blueish tinge).
Birds
Moorlands are home to a number of ground-nesting birds. Red grouse (Lagopus lagopus) is probably one of the most frequently seen of these, not least because many moors are managed as grouse moors. This management results in the patchwork pattern seen on many moors, as stands of heather are burned in rotation to provide both older heather, which provides shelter and nesting areas, and younger heather, which provides heather shoots for food.