The nest is empty, then suddenly at 06.49.05, something moves - it's a Pine Marten! The dangerous intruder has a good look round, going all around the nest and out onto the perch but there's nothing there, and it leaves again at 06.49.32. Ironically, it might have been the previous day's fish dropped over the nest, coupled with branches coming down in the recent storm, that might have brought on the visit. Slo-mo version of today's visit: • Slo-Mo: INTRUDER: Pine... . Nest defenses will need to be strengthened to avoid a repeat of 2018 when a Pine Marten stole Aila and Louis' eggs, watch that raid here: • Pine marten steals egg... **UPDATE: There was another Pine Marten visit on 15th September, watch here: • Nocturnal intruder: An... .
"The European pine marten (Martes martes) is a mustelid native to Northern Europe. It is known most commonly as the pine marten in anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as baum marten,[2] or sweet marten. The European pine marten's fur is usually light to dark brown. It is short and coarse in the summer, growing longer and silkier during the winter. It has a cream- to yellow-coloured "bib" marking on its throat. Its body is up to 53 cm (21 in) long, with a bushy tail of about 25 cm (10 in). Males are slightly larger than females; typically, it weighs around 1.5-1.7 kg (3.3-3.7 lb). It has excellent senses of sight, smell, and hearing."
"Martens are the only mustelids with semiretractable claws. This enables them to lead more arboreal lifestyles, such as climbing or running on tree branches, although they are also relatively quick runners on the ground. They are mainly active at night and dusk. They have small, rounded, highly sensitive ears and sharp teeth adapted for eating small mammals, birds, insects, frogs, and carrion. The diet of the pine marten includes small mammals, carrion, birds, insects, and fruits, they have also been known to eat berries, birds' eggs, nuts, and honey."
"The European pine marten inhabits well-wooded areas. In Great Britain, the species was for many years common only in northwestern Scotland. A study in 2012 found that martens have spread from their Scottish Highlands stronghold, north into Sutherland and Caithness and southeastwards from the Great Glen into Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Tayside, and Stirlingshire, with some in the Central Belt, on the Kintyre and Cowal peninsulas and on Skye and Mull."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea...
Nest cam footage captured from ©Woodland Trust Osprey cam located in the Arkaig Community Forest, streaming live 24/7, funded by People's Postcode Lottery, wifi provided by Locheilnet. Watch the nest cam live here: • Live Osprey nest cam -... .
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