Meet FD06! Now I'm not really allowed favourites, but if I was she'd be right up there
Two days after the whole country went into lockdown (& I was so unsure when I would be allowed back into the Dean for fieldwork) she turned up in private woodland.... BEHIND MY HOUSE

Not only could I check on her for my 'daily exercise' she also showed signs she had given birth (the same densite day after day). This truly epic Ivy covered Oak. This tree was so massive that I couldn't actually check for kits with the boroscope like I did for the others...

...but it wasn't long before we caught the kits on camera as she moved them to another (even more impossible to check) den.
Sound up for disgruntled kit noises (more on marten vocalisations on Friday!)

As we couldn't film the densite easily we went back to basics with a baited camera. We never want to make the martens reliant on humans for food so only ever use a small amount of peanuts and an egg to tempt them. It did the trick & we soon caught these kits learning to climb

This coppiced tree provided a perfect climbing frame for them to womble about on safely, but their noisy antics attracted a fox, which are a common predator of kits. In fact one did kill a kit from a different female. But happily this one just seemed bewildered by the family

FD06 was always great at keeping an eagle eye out for danger & gathering her brood back to safety. Martens 'meerkat' to get a better view at what's happening around them. This is also the perfect pose for us to identify them from their 'bibs'
...if they face the camera that is

She is a brilliant mum... Even if there was that one time she left a kit behind at the bait station
Sound up for it's pathetic cries for its mum!

Although you can hardly blame her wanting five minutes to herself with these rambunctious babies.
When we remove the collars they are often covered with tiny teeth marks from the kits 'playing' with poor mum.

And apparently the bait station peanuts weren't to this kits taste and he would rather try and suckle from mum, despite being long past weaning. FD06 has the patience of a saint!

A group of martens is known as a 'Richness' and you can really see why. This family with its beautiful soft dense fur, delightful play and real personality have certainly enriched my life during lockdown.
May I always be fortunate enough to have pine martens on my doorstep

As always thanks to our funders and supporters @gloswildlife @ForestryEngland @forestholidays @vincentwildlife @Forest_Research @nature_scot @forestryls

And make sure you're following @mcnicol27 to see her excellent thread yesterday and another behind the scenes look tomorrow!