My first day as a Wildlife photographer…
Last year, I made a big decision to push myself out of my comfort zone. One of the ways I chose to do this was by booking myself onto a weeklong photography retreat in the Cairngorms of Scotland. I have never been on a photography trip, or on holiday by myself, so this (for me at least) was quite a big step.
The retreat is run by Carl Thomas, who you may know from his amazing dog photography or his beyond the lens draws competitions. The week was scheduled for the 2nd-9th February 2024, and we would be based in a stunning cottage on the Mar Lodge Estate near Braemar in Aberdeenshire.
Our pad for the week, Claybokie cottage on the Mar Lodge Estate
My spacious bedroom
View from my bedroom window
There were 9 of us including Carl and for our first day, we would be split into 2 groups. The group I was in would be off to the hide to hopefully see some Red Squirrels during the day, and then await the Pine Marten after dark.
The hide we were in was located on the edge of a woodland and run by Nature Nuts. The hide was well provisioned with nuts and seeds for us to use in the feeders and spread around the site to help encourage the wildlife to us. There were cushions, blankets and a heater which was greatly appreciated as the night drew in, and we started to get colder.
For our first stint in the hide, we mostly saw Chaffinches, like a lot of Chaffinches as well as Great Tits, Coal Tits and one lovely little Treecreeper. Unfortunately, we saw no Red Squirrels, I think a big part of this was down to us arriving late in the morning. As it was day one of the retreat, the morning was a very slow start for us and with the hide being over an hour away we didn’t get there until 11:30. That being said, I was a good opportunity for me to practice photographing the birds and get my settings honed in, ready for the arrival of the squirrels I so desperately wanted to see.
Things quietened down at the hide, so we headed into Pitlochry to refuel ourselves ready for stint 2 in the hide.
This second sitting in the hide, was really quite quiet. Whilst we did see some more Chaffinches, as well as a male Pheasant and a male Greater Spotted Woodpecker, unfortunately we lucked out on the squirrel front.
Towards the early dusk, we spotted why that was (or at least, our best guess as to why we had not had any squirrel sightings) as sitting in a nearby tree was a male Sparrow Hawk! This was a great consolation prize as it was the closest I had seen one before, and I was able to capture him on film.
The hide was equipped with some LED lighting and so with darkness falling, we turned these on in anticipation of the Pine Martens arrival.
About an hour had gone past, when in amongst the trees, I saw some glowing eyes headed in our direction. With everyone frozen still, making no noise as he approached, the Pine Marten arrived, and he was beautiful.
Having done 0 research into Pine Martens, I was surprised as to how big he was. I knew that they were larger than the tiny Stoats I had seen before, but at the size of a cat, he was a real stunner.
He hung around the hide for just under 7 minutes, before headed back into the woods. Whilst we waited in the hide for another 2 hours after he left, we saw no other animals, so headed back to base.
For my first day photographing wildlife, I had a great day. Whilst the cherry on the cake would have been some Red Squirrel sightings, seeing and photographing the Sparrow Hawk, Pine Marten and Woodpecker were a great start to the trip and a good starting point for my week in Scotland.
If you are interested in going on a photography retreat, the check-out Carl’s Facebook page to see more information on the available tours.