Pining

A visit to the Northern Highlands is just not the same without a sighting of a Pine Marten. We saw two a couple of weeks ago in Scotland including this beautiful female.

Mammals

22 Mammals recorded on the recent mammal tour around the UK as well as over 100 bird species. Next May’s tour is now available for booking.

Badger – Scottish badgers are so much smaller than their English counterparts

Red Deer – Taking a cool dip on one of the very warm days we experienced

One of the Chillingham Wild Cattle – You wouldn’t want to get in the way of this big boy!

Wood Mouse – from the large to the small … we saw lots

Visitors in the Night

After our visit to Mull last month we spent a few days on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. The place where we stayed was quite special.
A little online research had found the lodges for rent and they looked ideal. Not only was the place in a nice secluded area and exceptionally well appointed, it had Badgers that visited regularly, Orchids growing in the lawns and bird feeders chock-a-bloc with Redpolls and Siskins.
However best of all there was a white plate, a spoon and a jar of blackcurrant jam in the porch. These were used each evening to attract little visitors to the veranda. Having Pine Martens a few feet from your face is a marvellous experience and one in which we revelled. These fast moving mammals were difficult to photograph and the low light levels were a challenge but Scotland in June yields light evenings and early mornings and on a couple of occasions we were visited during full daylight.