ASPC has held a photography competition, now, for 4 years. We have always been very pleased with the response and highly impressed with the quality. This year’s invitation to enter, resulted in 300 entries, which we at ASPC find very encouraging.

As is our practice, we have chosen twelve winners. In addition to receiving a modest gift, each will be featured on our website home pages -one per month.

Calum Stuart was one of our winners, and he has given us a magical picture of a Pine Marten, in Glen Tanar.  Pine Martens were regarded as very rare in this area, possibly absent completely. Now, however, they are back, although a sighting will be a rare gem. For all the beauty of the predator in the photograph, there is an element of ambivalence about their presence as they will include ground nesting birds’ eggs in their diet. They are very active predators, taking hens, rabbits, and occasionally, hares.

Our picture, this month, shows just how lean and mean they are, definitely an animal to treat with great caution. Small but skilful at what they do, we can expect the current population to grow.

If you’re interested in learning more about each one of our images as part of our photography competition, then why not take a look at one of our previous submissions, here.