Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Martens And Mountains

by admin - 17:06 on 05 July 2014

Soo and Tony, who kindly cared for The Pride in our Icelandic absence, were teased by pine martens during their stay just as much as we are. Despite keeping watch every night, the only mustelid wanders they saw came after dark.

So they may be slightly miffed to learn that last night, two nights after Matchgirl and I saw a hopeful marten chased away by Pandora, the visitor returned and gave me my first daylight photo opportunity of 2014. Daylight is pushing it a little, for the time was shortly before 10.30 which meant 3200 ISO and slow shutter speeds.

The results are no better than some of my first marten snaps, taken four years ago, but it's such a pleasure (and relief) to see one in the flesh again that I'm not bothered. Although I don't know whether this is a newcomer or an old friend I'm pretty sure it's a female. There was no visible evidence to the contrary anyway.

The lawn was ignored for another day today while I sifted marten and Iceland snaps. The work is almost at an end – there's only Reykjavik pictures to go through – after which there'll be a mass upload to Flickr. Three more are there early, of which this is one, taken on the road up Snæfellsjökull.

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