Evening Wildlife Watching Hide Update March 2026
- Harris Brooker
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
March is the month when the temperatures are getting warmer and the daylight gets longer. Although there have been flurries of snow and colder temperatures, these have been fleeting and the Badgers have visited every night, with a regularity of Pine Marten sightings too. There are also increasing sightings of Wood Mice and Tawny Owls being heard.
Badgers
There are still 6 Badgers in the family, and they have been present every night so far. Earlier in the year, most of them stayed below ground with only one or two venturing out, often not staying long. That’s changed now. One night I was putting out the food when one of the male Badgers walked in and, incredibly, started feeding before I’d even finished laying everything out. I had never experienced that before; I had to wait for it to feed on the peanuts that I’d laid below the microphone before I could finish the rest.
After it had finished, I put some more peanuts under the microphone, because the purpose of doing this, is so that the guests are guaranteed to hear them feeding (provided there’s no wind, which causes nobody to hear anything). Once I’d gone back inside and turned the microphone on, as more Badgers came in, that sound was heard well and it always causes the guests to laugh. All 6 members of the family showed up that night, and the guests left very happy.
Pine Martens
There are 2 Pine Martens that visit the hide and to date at least one of them has been coming almost every night the hide’s been on. One night, the hide had not long started when about 10 minutes into the watch, one of the guests announced they’d seen a Pine Marten. I couldn’t see it at first, but I was told it was in the branches somewhere. Not everyone could see it so I told them that it would probably show itself in a little while. The food on its favourite platform had been laid out so I didn’t see why it would not go there. Sure enough, it did eventually come into view, and I realised we had the female Pine Marten. This individual has a single brown spot at the bottom of its bib with a brown semi collar.
As fed on the peanuts and sultanas and it took a while for it to show its markings properly for everyone to see. Then after it finished feeding, it urinated on the spot (which is a signal to show that it’s leaving) and then it disappeared below the two Lawson’s Cypresses overlooking the hide platform. Then another guest said they saw a Pine Marten and I wondered if it was the male this time. I squinted at the treetops and after spotting it saw that the female was still around. It fed on the ground for a while before disappearing properly for the evening. A fantastic evening all round.
Other Wildlife -
The Scottish Wildcat is still around but hasn’t been seen at the hide this month. I hadn’t seen it myself for weeks and worried something had happened to it, but I’ve been reassured that he is still around and hopefully he’ll be seen from the hide next month. There are Wood Mice that peak from the cracks in the wall and dash to grab peanuts and run back to safety. Tawny Owls have been heard but have yet to be seen so far this year.
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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