Penny Hedge
A trip to a fantastic photography hide near Blairgowrie in the Cairngorms to capture Red Squirrel and the elusive Pine Marten!
I had heard from another wildlife photographer about a place in Scotland that is fantastic for getting photos of Pine Marten - a rare and elusive mustelid that are largely confined to Scottish woodland. After a google search for “Penny Hedge” and contact with the owners I was arranging an entire trip around it! I already wanted to capture red squirrels in the winter when they have the tufted ears and this hide promised great opportunities for this too!
The owners were fantastic right from the first email. They advised availability and price and outlined the different sessions. We would arrive at 10am for the day session photographing squirrels and woodland birds and then when the light dropped around 4pm we would head out for some dinner before returning at 7pm to setup and wait for Pine Marten. The hosts were wonderfully welcoming and even baked us some cake! They couldn’t do enough for us!
We setup the cameras in the hide and settled in to wait for any squirrels to come along, shooting away at all the woodland birds in the meantime. The area we were photographing included some stone walling, some branches which the squirrels could jump between and various logs and tree trunks, all in a woodland setting. Plenty of seed, nuts and suet was put out for the birds and they were in and out in droves. The many Chaffinches constantly flitting about which provided great images as they hovered before landing on a branch or feeder.
We also saw plenty of Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker and even a couple of Pheasants. I got particularly excited when a Buzzard flew in and landed in the trees at the back of the clearing we were in! Later on a Buzzard (possibly the same one) popped in and again sat in a tree at the back, surveying the area and possibly on the hunt for rodents in the undergrowth.
Even more excitement when all of a sudden everything fled as a stunning Sparrowhawk appeared, briefly settling on a branch as it thought about its next move. This wonderful bird of prey would revisit (unsuccessfully) a further 2 times allowing me to capture various angles and poses.
All the while with a plethora of bird activity going on non stop, we were treated to many visits of the red squirrels. I was keen to capture a shot of one jumping between branches but it proved difficult until after a few attempts - learning their behaviours and when they were likely to jump. Sometimes they jumped but as I was trying to follow with my camera they would sometimes pause and then jump as I had stopped panning! Sometimes they would grab some food and run back down the branch and some were happy foraging along the ground. I did manage a couple of jumping shots eventually!
As it was February, the light dropped around 4pm so we headed off to the nearest town, Blairgowrie for some dinner and we returned for 7pm to setup for the Pine Marten. Same hide, same setup only now it would be in the dark. An LED lighting had been setup and a portable flash setup with a trigger for the camera. The Pine Martens had been coming every night for years and were not phased at all with the lights or flashes.
We were advised of the best settings to use and after some nuts, grapes and eggs were left out we were left to it. This is wildlife so nothing is guaranteed and after sitting in silence for 3 hours and seeing nothing I was getting sceptical that I would see a Pine Marten at all! Finally around 2145 I spotted a little head appear above the stone wall! PINE MARTEN!! It was a young one and it came down the wall, onto a branch and sat and ate some snacks for a few minutes before heading off on its way! Wow! what an encounter. It looked right at me as I took a shot. We were elated and wanted more. However it was late and it was absolutely freezing so we called it a night and headed for our hotel.
The owners had advised that some nights the pine marten could appear straight away and sometimes later on, also some nights a few may appear together and that generally there were a few individuals that visit the site. I can’t wait to revisit, maybe in the summer with lighter evenings and the chance to capture one of these elusive mammals in daylight! Penny Hedge is just wonderful, highly recommended to any wildlife photographer!
A huge thankyou to Mark & Sue for a great visit. Do check them out here