Early in the morning, just before the sun was coming up, I tread carefully across the marsh and in to the hide. I set up my camera on the tripod and sat in position, patiently waiting in silence for the sight of an animal, unaware of my presence. Suddenly a Heron appeared, it was hunting for its lunch.
These Herons made me feel like I wasn't actually being that patient at all as they showed me the real meaning. They could stand in the same position for ages just watching their prey and slowly moving towards where they wanted to get. They moved so slowly and stood for so long that when we fast forwarded a video that my companion made of a hunting Heron, we noticed the tide moved quite a bit and the light got significantly darker.
We had also heard of Pine Marten in the area. So, three of us went out when the sun went down. We wandered down the quiet, windey path in search of some glowing eyes. We roamed for a while but there didn't seem to be any sign of Pine Marten.So, we headed back to the cottage where Ciara had stayed in while we wandered. As we strolled in she came running up to us, trying to tell us she'd seen a Pine Marten in excitement. It had been investigating in front of the window and had even been up on the window ledge. Unfortunately, it had left by the time we got back so we put out some jam and bourbons and waited silently in the dark the following night.
It arrived! And was definately enjoying the biscuits we had put out. I had never seen a Pine Marten before and there's always an excitement that I can't explain when I see a mammal that I have never seen before. It is sort of addictive. Seeing such illusive, large animals in the wild, it makes me feel connected to the natural world.
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