March 2025 – Evening Wildlife Watching Hide Update, Aviemore

Spring is finally here and with it an increase in Badger sightings at our hide near Aviemore compared to the winter months. There are Pine Martens to be seen and the Scottish Wildcat is still present. Wood Mice are becoming more active, Tawny Owls are hooting and Common Snipe have been heard. There are also smaller things such as Common Toads, Common Frogs and Palmate Newts to be seen, especially if it’s a rainy day.

Badgers - With the warmer weather finally here the Badger sightings are back to what they usually are, which is almost every night. One night the first Badger to come in was a male - the size and shape of its head gave it away. It fed for a few minutes, then when it left, a second male came in to feed. After that one left a female came in and it became apparent to the guests the difference in head shape. The females have slimmer faces than the males and are usually smaller bodied, though telling apart males and females this way, is not always an exact science. Eventually they all left and the guests were happy.

Badgers (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

Badger (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

Pine Martens - The Pine Martens are still visiting and we’ve been treated to some incredible sightings of the new female and young male in particular. One night myself and the guests were in the hide late and at about 8:50 pm, the young male Pine Marten jumped up from the twin Lawson’s Cypresses that overlook the platform, ran along the log bridge to sit on the platform and feed. The guests were thrilled at how close it was and eventually after about 15 minutes, moved off, ran along the log bridge and back down the twin trees.

Pine Marten (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

Pine Marten (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

Scottish Wildcat - The Scottish Wildcat is still present and hopefully with the daylight hours getting longer there is a higher chance of seeing the Wildcat from the hide, I’ve found that it tends to avoid the hide platform at night to avoid meeting the Badgers. There’s still been no sign of the second Wildcat that scared away the new female Pine Marten earlier in the year, but it’s possible it could be seen again. We’ll certainly be hoping for more Wildcat sightings from the hide as the year progresses.

Other Wildlife - Tawny Owls can be heard hooting from the hide, though they haven’t shown themselves so far this year. Wood Mice are becoming more active and you can easily see them dashing across the ground to grab a peanut and disappear back into its hiding place. One night I heard the first Common Snipe from the hide this year. Woodcock have yet to appear, but it won’t be long now since they’ve already been seeing roding in other parts of the Highlands.

In terms of smaller wildlife there are Common Toads, Common Frogs and Palmate Newts to be seen and you have to be careful not to step on them. One night a Common Toad entered the hide after the guests had left because I’d left the door open. It looked large and quite out of place on the floor and I had to use the laminated sheet used to advertise the pin badges to get it out! Palmate Newts were sitting on the wet road and I had to pick them up and put them in the grass for their own safety.

If you would like a chance to see our nocturnal visitors go to: http://bit.ly/sw_EWW to book your place.