Aigas Field Centre - Scotland's best badger and pine marten watching hide at Aigas!


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The Aigas Pine Marten and Badger hide During your stay you will have the opportunity of visiting our fabulous Pine Marten and Badger hide. Over the past 4 years, Aigas guests have been entertained by our mischievous Pine Martens. The hide was originally built to watch Badgers, which still visit the feeding station every night, but the Martens have found it to their liking too, and they are now our most regular visitor. We encourage the mammals to visit by putting out a small amount of peanuts and a tablespoon of jam. The food is merely to entice them in – by no means do we sustain them or interfere with their territoriality. We feed every day throughout the year, whatever the weather. We have found that both Badgers and Pine Martens keep coming until the temperature dips below -10c or the snow deeper than a foot! Aside from that, they pay us a visit every night; wind, rain or shine! To read about the very latest news from the Pine Marten hide check out Staff Naturalist Phil Knott's Wildlife Diary. What’s the success rate for hide visits? The success rate for seeing Pine Martens at each 2 hour hide visit is 95%, right throughout the year, easily the most reliable place in the UK to see these rare creatures. Badgers visit the feeding area every night, but success rates at seeing them in a watch vary due to feeding patterns and weather. Some weeks we see them every night, some weeks we only see them on tape, feeding at an inconsiderate 3am! As well as our Pine Martens and Badgers we frequently see Roe Deer, Wood Mice, Pipistrelle Bats and Tawny Owls. Rarer visitors include Woodcock, Barn Owl, Red Deer, Brown Hare and Fox. Are the views good? The views are not glimpses at 40 yards, but prolonged views of feeding and playing Martens at distance of between 6 and 30 feet. They are completely wild and not at all tame, making it all the more exciting and unpredictable! The feeding area is lit with strong floodlights when the natural light fades so at all times of year you can pick out the colours and finest details of their teeth, claws and fur. How many Pine Martens visit? Thanks to the work of professional and amateur photographers down the years we have been able to identify and keep tabs on individual Martens, thanks to their spotted breast pattern being as unique as a fingerprint! Because of this we know that we are only visited by one adult male and one adult female, with youngsters only hanging around until the autumn, before being chased off by mum. Our adults have been with us since we first opened the hide in 2005, and any intruders are seen off. We know with confidence that we have a maximum of 4 Martens in the area at any one time, and they typically visit in the first two hours after darkness, as the first Pine Marten in gets the jam! This healthy competition is why we are so successful at showing Pine Martens to hundreds of delighted guests year after year. Behaviour For the last 2 years we have welcomed the female and her bouncing baby kits from late June onwards, giving us truly memorable encounters right until October. Seeing the kits play fighting, chasing and even using mum as a trampoline always entertains! The highlight in 2008 was of our female suckling her young right in full view in front of the hide. The family is generally peaceful with adults and young often feeding side by side, though come the autumn, the female gets less tolerant of her young and it is quite common to see chases and hear their fierce scowling! The resident Wood Mice lead an exciting life too, and have a very short life expectancy thanks to the Martens. We have seen them hunt the mice on many occasions, pouncing in a cat like manner on the unsuspecting peanut grabbing rodents! Badgers The Badgers that visit our feeding area are a little different from the Badgers commonly seen down south. In the rugged Highlands it is very difficult for large groups of Badgers to survive the winter, so typically they live in smaller groups. A typical sett would only have 6-7 individuals, whereas in south west England that can number over 25! Our Badgers are also bigger than southern Badgers, and have a more varied diet, not quite so dependent on earthworms. Good job with the number of days of frost and snow we have! Our animals are also less likely to emerge in cold weather, and go into a state of torpor. At our hide there is very little pattern to their arrival, despite the sett being close by! Their amazing sense of smell helps them sniff out the peanuts we bury in random locations. Seeing them flip over heavy stones with ease remind us that these gentle giants are incredibly powerful! We have never seen more than 4 Badgers at once, and sadly have not seen cubs in the last two years, with lots of road casualties nearby. Let’s hope that 2009 brings around a change in their fortune. Facilities Our hide is easy to access, comfortable, warm, midge free and almost soundproof to the outside. This means that during the visit you can move around, talk and take as many pictures as you like. The hide has inside and outside lights and even a heater when it turns chilly! Our enthusiastic staff team visits the hide out of season to ensure that we can deliver an in-depth explanation of what the animals are doing all year round. We currently record activity at the site every day using an infra-red light and simple infra-red camera linked to a home video. Our hide can seat 12, but typically we keep it to a maximum of 10 for comfort. A Ranger will always be present for the duration of the hide visit to interpret the behaviour, answer any questions and pass around the sweets! Photographic Opportunities The Aigas Pine Marten hide is the perfect place for nature photographers, and we welcome enquiries from people wanting to visit. The feeding area is floodlit when the natural light fades, enabling photographs to be taken all year round. The best photos are typically taken under natural light, with a visit in May to August being the best time. Many of our staff are photographers, so if you have any questions then contact the office. It is possible to set up tripods for photography, but many prefer to prop up their lens on the shelf. The windows are single glazed, and are spotlessly cleaned every week. A flash will not work at all and is prohibited inside the hide. The hide is perfect for television, and we have welcomed Bill Oddie, Chris Packham and Johnny Kingdom to the hide for their BBC wildlife programmes. If you have already visited the hide in the last 4 years and have any good quality photos of our Martens then we would love to see them! Email them through to phil@aigas.co.uk Visiting the Hide Most people visit the hide as part of a set holiday here at Aigas, with the visit included in the price of all of our Aigas based programmes. Many people go for a second time before the week is over! However, we do welcome enquiries from people staying nearby to visit for an evening watch. A Ranger always has to be present, and typically visits last no more than 2 hours. We are extremely busy in the summer months though, so booking early is essential. As with all wildlife watching, there are a few occasions a year when nothing is seen, though this is extremely rare! If you wish to visit the Pine Marten hide or find out more information about what we do then phone our office on 01463 782443. If you'd like more information about the Pine Marten or Badgers visit our ecology pages. To read about the very latest news from the Pine Marten hide check out Staff Naturalist Phil Knott's Wildlife Diary. Acknowledgements Some of the video footage of the Badgers and Pine Martens was kindly provided by Dr David Dixon - our friendly expert mammal consultant who discovered the link between Badger mating and lunar cycles. Video footage was recorded by Ieuan Evans with a simple hand-held camcorder. We would like to thank Pro-Optocam Ltd for their generous loan of an infrared illuminator for the PINE MARTEN hide. Do you feed Badgers or Pine Martens at home? We are very interested in finding out more from other wildlife enthusiasts throughout the country. Feel free to email our Staff Naturalist at phil@aigas.co.uk.	“Everyone commented on the great food and accommodations throughout – but especially at Aigas Field Centre. »»” Peter Roberts - Victor Emanuel Nature Tours Podcasts. Latest News Aigas - a Highland Wonder Clare MacDonald Cooking Demonstration Next Programme Aigas Wildlife 2009 in association with