2024 is nearly at an end, so it’s time to give you a roundup of the year’s highlights from our mammal hide in the Cairngorms. The Badgers and Pine Martens have continued to appear and a full year has passed since our Scottish wildcat started to regularly visit. Other wildlife such as Roe and Red Deer, Wood Mice, Bank Voles, Tawny and Barn Owls and Grasshopper Warblers have even been heard. I have to mention our strangest wildlife sighting ever at the hide, in the form of a male Common Redstart.
Let’s hope that 2025 gives us highlights just as good as this year and let’s hope the Scottish Wildcat stays with us for many more years yet.
Badgers
The Badgers have continued to come in the recent months despite the cold, but usually fewer than we have seen in warmer times of the year. The number in the family is now around eight - only one cub was born this year. In the past our Badger group has been as high as eleven members, but some of them have disappeared over time. Hopefully next year more cubs will be born and we look forward to seeing if cubs arrive late spring.
I remember one night, a Badger came and fed by putting its head inside one of the logs and was licking at the bait. it looked thoroughly absorbed in feeding and eventually went away to the left of the platform, presumably to go and look for worms.
Over time though we’ve had some dramatic nights with the Badgers. One night two stared each other down and growled, and a fight erupted between them. These two then ran off and the others ran off with them. Then, eventually, one came back and the others gradually did so too. Most fights however, are relatively minor and end quickly but not this one. Hopefully we'll see more events like this next year.
Pine Martens
We’ve had great Pine Marten sightings this year, with our resident female having given birth to two kits - a male and a female, giving us our first sighting of a female bringing young to the hide. They sometimes fed together and she would lead them away once finished. Sadly, our resident female died this year and although her female kit seems to have moved on, her male kit continues to visit us when he feels hungry and can sometimes be seen next to his father, the resident male. Hopefully another female will start to visit and we might have more kits next year.
A highlight for myself and guests must be one night that the male kit came onto the platform to feed and it just sat there for about ten minutes, showing really well. When it had finished it disappeared into the treetops and melted away into the night. A real treat for our guests!
Earlier in the year there was an evening where the female Pine Marten was scared up into the treetops by the Scottish wildcat. There have also been occasions, although not seen during hide evenings, where the Scottish Wildcat has chased after some of the young Pine Martens.
Scottish Wildcat
A full year has passed since our Scottish Wildcat became a regular sight at the hide and he’s still present. He may be absent for a fortnight or so, but so far, he has always come back to visit the hide and surrounding area. He is not always seen by guests, due to it being late in the day when our sessions begin and he is careful to avoid the platform where Badgers are likely to be present - but he is still present and has been seen within December I’d been away for a couple of weeks and was delighted to come across him one evening when I returned.
There have been some brilliant encounters in the summer months. One time the Scottish Wildcat came on the right hand side of the hide and I hurried everybody through the back and we watched it come round the back of the hide and into the garden.
Other Wildlife
Guests delight in watching the Wood Mice at the hide and despite the cold in winter they will still make an appearance. They appear in a crack in the wall at the back of the platform and tumble down to grab a peanut before quickly dashing away again.
Earlier this year after the guests had left, a Tawny Owl appeared and showed well. The owl sat on top of a branch swivelling its head in search of mice before it then turned and flew away into the forest. This is an exciting find because Tawny Owls are rarely seen from the hide.
Barn Owls and Grasshopper Warblers have been heard from the hide too, but our strangest sighting this year was a male Common Redstart, which just after 10 pm, sat on one of the log bridges connecting the trees to the platform. I initially thought it was a Robin - since it’s not unusual to see them at that hour, but a closer look revealed the truth. It hopped away and was never seen again and we haven’t had another one since. They can be seen in some of the forests locally in the late spring and summer months, but even then, can be hard to find.
If you would like to visit our Evening Wildlife Watching Hide please click on this link to check availability and book at: http://bit.ly/sw_EWW
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