I have only ever seen a Pine marten once and that was many years ago in Scotland at the Rothiemurchus Estate hide. Visiting Huw in Ireland looked like it might give me another chance to see one in the wild. Over the last year or so, Huw has been putting food out in the garden and is attracting a number of different individuals to the garden, just a few metres from the house! Last year, several martens were visiting regularly, sometimes in daylight. In the last month, visits have been sporadic and a new individual has been spotted. Pine martens are easily recognisable from the distinctive cream chest markings they have. Each has a unique pattern. Huw has a wired camera set up on the feeding station and I was able to set my Bushnell up at the site.
Over the time I was staying, despite our best efforts of staying up until the early hours or getting up really early, the marten managed to avoid us! We captured some lovely footage on both the wired and the Bushnell.
Huw and I have plans to get some Pine marten nesting boxes up for next year… with HD cameras inside of course…. so watch this space; it would be a very exciting project!
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