Photographing Pine Martens on The Black Isle
I must admit that being able to get close to pine martens is a very long term project that takes years of building their confidence in your presence, and therefore it is not practical for us all to create a pine marten hide. Instead we should take advantage of some of the great ones out there, and in particular, I have to recommend James Roddie’s Hide on the Black Isle, just outside of Inverness.
It is a superb hide with amazing success rate and has been operating for years, so if you really want to take any pine marten pictures then you should definitely have a look at his hide! I have gallery of images dedicated to the images I have taken at this hide and all of my pine marten images are from there.
Pine marten photography requires endless patience and perseverance to get some good images, but when you do it will all be worth it…
Let’s Talk Pine Martens
Pine Marten (Martes Martes) is a beautiful animal of the mustelid family, they prefer arboreal habitats and occupy dens within the dense forest either in hollowed trees or underground. They are omnivorous and enjoy the delicacies of the forest, such as berries and nuts but also rodents, birds, eggs and even squirrels. They have an extensive territory across all of Europe but the remaining populations of the United Kingdom are isolated to the northern areas of the country, including Scotland, England and Wales. I love the descriptive name given by the Irish: Cat Crainn, which means tree cat and I think that suits the species far more than ‘pine marten’.
A recent study has found their territory is expanding south because they are an amazing predator, their primary arboreal prey is the Red Squirrel which has evolved with the Pine Marten and is thus small and light to escape Pine Martens as much as possible. The Grey Squirrel, on the other hand, as an introduced species from North America where there is no equivalent species to the Pine Marten, are positively plump and slow. As the Grey Squirrel has moved north through the country they have largely been uncontested because for centuries the Pine Marten was persecuted and hunted, combined with habitat loss, means they have been confined to the far reaches of the north, but now the Grey Squirrel has encountered a hitherto unknown threat. Moreover the Pine Marten now has an abundant and easily caught prey species. This has allowed the Pine Marten to expand its territory further south, consuming Grey Squirrels through the forests, and in its wake the Red Squirrel is slowly reclaiming territory as well.
Pine Martens are largely nocturnal, scurrying around in the dark hours is one of the ways they can ambush prey and it limits the possibility they will be attacked by another animal. However, during the summer when the females have kits and when the daylight hours are incredibly long they will emerge during the light of the day to forage for food. They are active all year round and if you can establish trust with the species then you could rig up some camera traps to capture images throughout the year at night.
James’s Hide
As I mentioned in the introduction, pine martens are incredibly secretive and wary of humans, if you really want to photograph pine martens and cannot dedicate years to building a relationship with them, then I would highly suggest using an established hide. At an established hide the animals are habituated to the food that is given them, they will be comfortable with your presence and, theoretically, should not be disturbed by the camera going off.
At James’s hide he has created a fantastic and natural looking habitat for the pine marten to forage. As a photographer specialising in pine martens, he has put a lot of thought into the backdrop, the position of log props, the way the light enters the clearing, the construction and position of the hide and when you meet him he will give you all the necessary information for a good session of photography.
James will place the food around the site, he will tell you were and if you give him some inclination as to the type of images you are after, he will try and increase the chances of that shot happening by placing the food in the right position. He typically gives the marten an egg or 2, peanuts, fruits, and honey. Peanuts is the only non native addition to the marten’s diet, the other food is a part of their natural diet.
There are several different ‘props’ or logs that have been modified by James to hold the food, and he is often changing the arrangement based on his own photo projects and if there is a particular image that a client would like. Everything appears completely natural, and from the hide you can’t see any of the containers.
The hide is a wooden hut with a narrow window for the lens to look through, there are folding chairs for you to sit on and there is extra food if needed.
James will advise you not to use anything strongly scented the morning of your session, especially perfumes, as these can put the marten off. They have an incredible sense of smell and the principal purpose of the hide is to conceal your scent as much as possible, and it’s one of the reasons why it’s difficult to establish your own marten set up, as they need to become accustomed to the smell of humans. The hide also helps to conceal your presence, and when photographing the pine marten you should avoid moving too erratically or quickly in case the movement scares them off.
Once James has positioned you and given the necessary information about how you should behave, he will disappear and leave you to a day of photography.
What to Expect
After James has established you in the hide, the next step is to wait until the pine marten graces you with their presence. This can take a looooong time, and there are some occasions when they decide not to bother showing up at all, in which case you will have been sitting in the hide for well on 12 hours with nothing to show for it. It is annoying when the pine marten decides not to show up, but when they do, it makes every agonising second worth it.
They don’t have a set schedule and can decide to show up at any time of day. I’ve photographed them in the early afternoon, late afternoon, and one day I decided to wait until darkness was descending and just as I was about to open the door of the hide, there was a scurrying sound as the pine marten ran into the clearing. It was far too dark to capture any images, so instead I just watched them patiently and fascinated, the scurrying around, climbing and searching for any morsel of food. It was a privilege to watch, but I shame I couldn’t photograph them.
Because it can be such a long wait, it’s extremely easy to get distracted. Throughout the day there will be red squirrels hoovering up the peanuts that were left for the pine marten, but that gives us one thing to do: capture images of the red squirrel and a lot of the images from my Red Squirrel Gallery were taken while waiting for the pine marten. Garden and woodland birds will also drop in every now and again, so why not get some pictures of them too?
I’ve also taken notepads to write down ideas for my website and photography business, and on one occasion I logged some of what I was seeing and feeling, which I will include below verbatim.
Whatever you are doing while you wait you need to be alert for when the pine marten appears, they are silent and often I’ve nearly missed their arrival. The first time they show up they will take one of the eggs and leave in a hurry. The key to this first arrival is DO NOT TAKE A PICTURE. If there is a camera noise on that initial visit, it can put them off from returning. That initial visit is often quick, so the opportunity for images is limited. When they return, they will most likely stay for a nice long period and will inspect most of the site, enabling us to get a variety of images in all of the props and set ups that James has constructed. The gap between the initial visit and the return varies and there is no set pattern, sometimes as little as twenty minutes, other times it can be 3 hours.
There’s not much compositional control, you’ve got to follow the pine marten as they move and hope that they won’t give you the dreaded butt shot! Several times I’ve had the pine marten feasting and sitting on a log for 10 minutes all the while facing the other direction. Remember: try to keep your movements slow and measured, and fingers crossed you will get some good images!
Verbatim Account Written In The Field
13:00 - She appears, I’m looking down at my pad when she makes her first entrance. I look up because a bird is alarm calling and spot her on the upright log. As soon as my eyes begin to focus, she drops down through the heather, onto the long log, grabs an egg and runs back into the forest. I’m on alert now, hoping for her return.
Aprox’ half hour later - She silently pops her head up by the long log, inspects for another egg and then scurries through the heather, I’m tracking her movement with the camera. She continues to run and I can’t keep up. I lose her behind a root of a tree. I keep my eye in that area, I see her running down the tree with another egg in her mouth. I try to line up a shot but she has bested me again, as she runs for cover on the far side of the forest.
After she left it was quiet. The occasional visit by a chaffinch or blackbird. As time wore on more life appeared including the first visit of the day by a red squirrel. The squirrel was entertaining, always in the wrong position for a decent image but I managed to get something at least. Eventually the squirrel scampered off, back into the forest. It was very quiet. The greater spotted woodpecker would occasionally visit, feasting on the cracked egg or peanuts.
The hours continued ticking away, the only visitors red squirrels, chaffinches and blackbirds. She was taunting me. She knew I was there and had paid to see her, that’s why she wouldn’t come. Every time I have booked a wildlife experience something happens which diminishes it. First attempt: black grouse lek; torrential rain and the grouse left before the sun rose and refused to come back, and my camera was damaged in the rain. Second attempt: ospreys; from 04:30 in the hide, as we are organising ourselves to leave, BAM! The osprey dives for fish, got a couple shots but can’t see the face, (I) returned in the evening to nothing! Go to Shetland for otters have only 1 day attempt and the otter doesn’t co-operate to allow us decent shots. Now pine marten refuses to show herself, as she normally would, bloody typical.
(I was a bit pessimistic at the time and annoyed, I must admit that in truth I have been very lucky with my wildlife experiences, maybe not perfect, but lucky nevertheless)
Luckily though, she came back for a 3rd time, as there were no eggs, she didn’t grab something and run off. This time she sat on the log and ate for a few seconds, which allowed me enough time to get a couple images. Finally success! It was close to a quarter to eight (19:45) when she arrived, clouds had moved in as well, blocking the light, but by using auto ISO and a set shutter speed, I managed to get something sharp if a bit grainy. She still moved very fast and it was difficult getting her within the frame but it all worked out! I was so excited, my heart was pounding for several minutes!
I wrote all of this down while I was waiting, in between her visits.
Conclusion
I can highly recommend photographing pine marten’s on the Black Isle. I’ve been multiple times and I’ve managed to capture a wonderful variety of different poses. There are times when the pine marten just refuses to show up, you shouldn’t take it personally like I was above! They are wild animals and you can’t guarantee success with any wild animals. James’s hide is comfortable and has a wonderful success rate, so if you want to photograph pine martens I cannot recommend his hide enough. You just have to be prepared to spend up to twelve hours waiting for the magical moment that the pine marten decides to show up, but once they do, you will get such a rush and thrill that you will be addicted to photographing this beautiful animal. Just as I am!
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Written by Daniel Long
Daniel Long created DRL Photography as a place to showcase his work as a photographer. Daniel has learnt a lot about photography and wishes to impart this knowledge with you, although the world is an ever changing place and he always says “you can never learn everything.” So as he makes his way, he continues to learn knew techniques, skills and information about photography. He focuses on Landscape and Wildlife photography and Daniel has a special focus on Scotland, his home away from home. As well as writing about photography and taking pictures out in the field, Daniel offers guided photography days so he can share his knowledge and locations in an effort to give his clients the best opportunities possible. Have a browse around this website to see his images, guided experiences and articles about photography. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact.
