Bennachie Wildlife Group

Set up in 2017 helped by a grant from the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery

The aim of the group is to discover more about local wildlife on the hill.

Trail Cameras
Show the importance of Bennachie as a home for many animals even if we don’t see them very often because they are avoiding contact with people. The cameras collect data about these species in a very unobtrusive way without disturbing them. The cameras regularly take pictures of roe deer, badgers, foxes, pine martens and red squirrels and occasionally snap birds too. This wildlife information is valuable because the Bailies can use it to encourage wildlife-friendly management of the hill and to protect the hill from inappropriate developments. We are grateful to Forestry Commission Scotland and other landowners for giving us permission to locate our cameras on land they own. This evidence is collated by the North East Biological Records Centre (NESBReC) which manages a database of all wildlife for NE Scotland.

Pine Martens
The group are working with Keziah Hobson from Aberdeen University with her PhD study on pine martens. Volunteers have helped her put up feeder boxes baited with food to attract pine martens. A sticky patch on the inside of the lid of feeder box collects hairs from the back of the pine marten as it feeds on the peanut bait. The volunteers collect these hair samples and send them to Keziah so that she can analyse their DNA.

Learning More
The group regularly bring in experts to learn more about wildlife such as mammal tracking, dawn chorus walk’s , pink-footed geese watching, learn about different habitats such as bogs and heathlands

Ongoing Plans
The Bennachie Wildlife Group is a sub-group of the Bailies. Everyone is welcome; all we ask is that attendees become members of the Bailies of Bennachie. There are new plans currently being drawn up for the next activities, which will be sent directly to those who sign up to the Wildlife Group. Do this by adding your name via the Volunteering Form.