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Writer's pictureHarris Brooker

Spring in Speyside Is Almost Here


Our Badgers are still coming in every night with up to eight at a time on occasions.

The cubs have grown up over the winter and in the next two or three months the next litter of cubs will be born. There are also Wood Mice to see, as they scurry around looking for peanuts overlooked by the Badgers and the Tawny Owls have also been hooting, but have remained unseen hidden in the canopy.

This is a zoomed out image of two Badgers feeding together. The large platform on which their feeding is visible and is surrounded by logs and leaf litter. There are log bridges spanning the image and there are two tree trunks at the back.
Two Badgers Feeding (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

This is a zoomed out image of three Badgers feeding together on a large suspended platform surrounded by logs and leaf litter. There are log bridges spanning the image and there are two tree trunks in the background.
Three Badgers Feeding (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

This is a zoomed in picture of a male Badger surrounded by logs and leaf litter. This is a male Badger because its head is more bulbous.
Male Badger (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

Two Pine Martens have been present and some nights the male and female have come in during the same evening. One thing that I learned recently about Pine Martens is that their intelligence is very high and I look forward to sharing more about this in future blog posts.

This is a zoomed in picture of a Pine Marten feeding on a small suspended platform on peanuts and sultanas. There are tree trunks to its right and branches behind the platform.
Male Pine Marten Feeding on Platform (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

This is a zoomed in image of a male Pine Marten feeding on peanuts and sultanas. There is part of a tree stump at the top left hand corner and some branches behind the platform.
Male Pine Marten Feeding (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

It’s not all about evening mammals and one evening I had to rescue a Palmate Newt that was moisturising itself on the road. In case it got run over I carried it over to a stream and it swam away initially, then settled on the nearby vegetation. By moisturising I mean it was sitting in a damp crack in the road, hydrating itself – so I carefully moved it to safety so it could continue!


Astronomy has been spectacular here at the wildlife hide. The Aurora Borealis has been spectacular on a few occasions in the past week and when the night sky is visible many different constellations can be seen - the most visible include Orion (the Hunter), Ursa Major (the Great Bear), Ursa Minor (the Little Bear) and Auriga (the Charioteer). Planets like Mars and Jupiter are visible and the Green Comet was seen - visiting Earth for the first time in 50,000 years.

This is an image of the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis, with a ribbon of green light spreading across a dark starry sky below a field with some trees.
Aurora Borealis (Photo Credit: Cath Wright)

If you would like your chance to see our nocturnal visitors click here and book your place today.


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