Rare pine marten makes 60-mile Yorkshire journey

The pine marten, nicknamed Two Dots, travelled more than 60 miles to reach the Yorkshire coast

A rare pine marten travelled about 60 miles (96km) from the North York Moors to Spurn Point on the Yorkshire coast.

The elusive mammals usually live in woodland but this animal, nicknamed Two Dots after the marking on his bib, was spotted on the sandy peninsula.

Photographer Paul Willoughby captured the pine marten on camera and the Yorkshire Pine Marten Project confirmed it had travelled from North Yorkshire.

"It was amazing, a lot of emotions all at once," Mr Willoughby said.

Pine martens are nocturnal and difficult to spot, but cameras set up in Dalby Forest, in the North York Moors National Park, had recorded footage of Two Dots in March.

The animal, a cat-sized member of the weasel family, was then seen at Spurn National Nature Reserve in April.

Mr Willoughby snapped a rare photo of the pine marten and said he experienced "the terror of knowing that you have found something rare and if you don't take a photograph, nobody will believe you".

He said he believed Two Dots was only in the area for six weeks, but that he was spotted about 10 times.

The animal was seen in the North York Moors in March, and was sighted in East Yorkshire a month later

There have been 25 reported pine marten sightings in Yorkshire since 2017, according to a report by the Yorkshire Pine Marten Project.

Ed Snell, project support and development manager at NatureSpy, which helps run the study, said it was "unique" to be able to track one pine marten making such a long journey.

"As soon as we saw the photo from Spurn, we recognised that we had seen the pine marten on camera in Dalby Forest," he said.

Pine martens can live to about eight years, according to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and the species is protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.