Hey! You! Get off my.... tail !

Mikes had a bad cough so I gave up last night and came down stairs to sleep on the sofa. At about three o'clock this morning I heard the mushrooms rattling together and peeped out the window and found the Pine marten tucking into the peanuts. It jumped back up to the sunflower seeds and started eating them. Then to my surprise the second one appeared. I've only spotted the two together a couple of times so it was quite exciting.
The pine marten is a carnivore but also eats nuts, berries, fungi and, of course, jam or peanut butter sandwiches.
Their name comes from when the majority of the breed were found in Caledonian pine forests. They were heavily persecuted in the 1800 with many being killed for their coats. Lose of habit and the introduction of the car increased their decline. Numbers are increasing and they are starting to spread throughout the Uk. We certainly seem to have a good population on the Black Isle.

The female, bitch, gives birth in the early Spring . Mating takes place in August/ September but the pregnancy is delayed until January. The male Pine Marten , dog, has no involvement in bringing up his young, kits. They give birth in a den often found in tree trunks or even old buildings.

Will have to wait until around June to see if any little ones appear. Did nt see any last year so fingers crossed for this summer :)

A misty day and heavy fog on the bridge and along the Beauly Firth. The sun did manage to break through later and it was quite pleasant out.