July 2024

When a friend here in the Highlands, Karen Miller, posted images of pine martens from a hide she has set up for her own benefit, I cheekily asked how much it would take to bribe her for a visit.

The site isn't open for bookings, so if she'd said "no chance" I wouldn't have been surprised, but she didn't and kindly showed me around the site early in July. She then said I could use it for a couple of weeks while she was away visiting her parents. I jumped at the chance, and with a bright evening forecast, sat down in the little hide, having put out peanuts and honey, and waited.

Seeing one close up, in daylight for the first time was a special moment. I've seen one before on Mull bouncing around in the road like Tigger from Winnie The Pooh, but this was more natural, and just a few feet away. Thank goodness for silent cameras.

The image comes from a subsequent visit, when I chanced an earlier arrival, and the pine marten I had been seeing, a young female, turned up within minutes of sitting down. She is incredibly alert, and frequently pauses to check when she hears things, which is what she did here, posing brilliantly on one of the stumps Karen had placed out for interest.

Definitely something I need to set up for myself, I think. To enjoy seeing these fantastic creatures more often.

So July's image is of a pine marten, taken silently with my Canon R5 and RF100-500mm. Thanks Karen!