Evening Wildlife Watching Hide Update June 2026
- Harris Brooker
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Evening Wildlife Watching Hide is getting plenty of sightings, with daily sightings of Badgers, several of Pine Marten and a few Scottish Wildcat. On many nights we have seen Roe Deer, Red Deer, Wood Mice, a Barn Owl, Woodcock and both Soprano and Common Pipistrelles. There have been the occasional sightings of Buzzard flying over the trees. Leopard Slugs, Black Slugs, Common Toads, Common Frogs and Palmate Newts have also been seen.
Badgers
There have been Badgers every night this month and there at least 6 in the family. If they have any cubs they are not far off from appearing. One night almost as soon as I went out there to put the food out, a Badger appeared. This one was a male, judging from its broad head and most likely the dominate male. It amused the guests to see me outside with it and it looking at me warily. Eventually it went back the way it came and came in to feed properly when I’d gone. It fed for at least 10 minutes before leaving. After a while 4 females came to feed and did so peacefully, with two of them engaging in mutual scent marking before leaving.
Pine Martens
We have had several Pine Marten sightings this month, mainly of our resident male, one of two regular Pine Martens that visit the hide. One night, very early on in the evening and not long after I’d put out the food the male Pine Marten came. It was still light and this allowed everyone to enjoy the Pine Marten in daylight. Sometimes as it fed, the Pine Marten looked over the side as if nervous about something. Sometimes it can be a signal that the Wildcat is near, but this time that didn’t happen and it carried on feeding until it eventually got up and went away.
Scottish Wildcat
The Scottish Wildcat is still present and we have been having occasional sightings of it. One night a Roe Deer repeatedly barked a warning. I initially dismissed this because I thought it was barking because a person was near. I had only ever heard them bark like that when people were near. But then someone announced that the Wildcat was down the path on the left, where the Badgers usually appear. It was standing there staring ahead and eventually disappeared and wasn’t seen again that evening. So it turns out that Roe Deer can bark alarm calls for predators in general even if they are too small to threaten it, possibly as a service to other creatures it can co-exist with that ensures mutual survival. On another evening a Blackbird made an alarm call which prompted me to check the back of the hide and the Wildcat was sat there. It didn’t stay for long and went round the left, but thankfully the views got better from there because it stayed still and posed for photographs and good views. It eventually descended the steps at the back of the hide where it pounced on something and ate what I think must have been a Bank Vole most likely, because it seemed to swallow it in one go. It sat at the bottom of the steps and posed nicely until it came back up the steps and wandered through the yard and vanished.
Other Wildlife
There have been plenty of Red Deer and Roe Deer in the fields below the hide. One Red Deer female had a fawn that was spotted. Earlier in the month a Barn Owl was seen on a few nights hunting over the field in total darkness. One night a Buzzard flew over and then on another night a Woodcock flew over the back of the hide as it was doing its territorial flight display and Common Snipe were heard on the microphone. One thing I have discovered is that bats can be heard through the microphone if you place a bat detector next to it. On different nights we have heard the beatbox sound of Soprano Pipistrelles and the cork popping sound of the Common Pipistrelles. As we walk back to the car park we often see Leopard, Black Slugs, Common Frogs, Common Toads and Palmate Newts along the path.
If you would like a chance to see our nocturnal visitors go to: http://bit.ly/sw_EWW to book your place.
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