best part of the day: East Lothian lockdown

20th May. Little about the lockdown was fun; the cranky folk complaining on social media about other fools breaking the rules; reports that liberties were being taken, as well as taken away, and the general feeling we were all in a live action zombie movie. However there were upsides. The wildlife seemed to appreciate the reduction of human traffic, and the weather. The weather was like somewhere in Europe (ironcally now we're exiting, the icing on the stupid cake). Blue skies on a daily basis. I began to run short of ideas of places to run or cycle to, to photograph the emerging butterflies.

Time for another cycle trip to Aberlady. My silent hope was that there'd be an early common blue at Luffness, a bit like the first small copper. Last year it was the 10th June before I found the first in Holyrood Park. So a bit optimistic, but faint heart and all that. It was slightly beyond the prescribed distance or guidelines but nowhere near half as dangerous as a visit to the supermarket, so I reckoned fair game. The spirit, if not the letter of the law. It's not as if I was going to the beach to mingle with thousands of badly parked BBQ morons. In fact I saw hardly a soul.

It takes about 75 minutes to cycle to Luffness (beyond Aberlady) depending how many times I am lured off the saddle to photograph coastline beauties along the road. The enclave off the golf course was not that busy with butterflies and the disappointment of no blue flashes was almost immediate. They would have been on the sun-facing slopes along with the small coppers (and higher up, the nervy Walls). Hunting through the grass next to the slopes I was relieved to at least find the first Small Heaths of the year.

There were maybe 4 and I had forgotten how much trouble they were for such little return. They are a very modest smallish-to-medium sized brown job who never (almost never) sit with their wings open. So you (almost) never get to see their sunny side up, except when flying. A light orange/yellow that is hidden when they inevitably land in the grass and further spoil the photo but climbing into the undergrowth. It has probably developed this behaviour to disuade predation. It does not make for easy or iconic photos. The most you can hope for is a lack of grass stalks blocking their furry faces. Lack of a distinctive coloured eye makes them look anonymous and after you've chased them for ages under the hot sun you begin to wonder why. Having said that, my friend Mairi, obvs with the patience of a saint, has been training them to sit atop flowers and pose. Even open their wings. Now that is impressive! Having felt I had a couple of record shots I didn't feel anything much more would be forthcoming or worth the effort, so turned my attention to the Walls that were shyly clinging to rocks higher up.

small heath

(a lot to be modest about)

Wall in finest cammo

Walls are a relatively recent invention. The are making their way up the country possibly with climate change. A few years ago they were a rare sight in East Lothian. Now you can find them with a little effort in Holyrood Park. They are like orange speckled woods, but very shy and flighty. They have impressive early warning systems and will see you coming from twice the distance a close up photo requires. They have very well camouflaged underwings and yet nearly spectacular uppers. I risked life, limb and camera teetering round the rocky heights trying to sneak up on them without much joy. They seemed to be all males (they have an easily identifiable forewing upper) hunting likely spots for females, only rarely stopping to bask for a moment before inspecting every nook and cranny for lady Walls.

I was only too aware that about a year ago they were directly responsible for killing my TZ100, my pride and joy. I was chasing them in Luffness but wearing road shoes. Descending from the crags my foot slipped on the polished dry grass and I sat down heavily slingshotting my camera (holding only the strap) onto the grass - whack - dead.

So while the TZ100 was on holiday to Jessops (under warranty) I bought the TZ200 to fill the 6 week gap. The TZ200 has the same 1 inch sensor but a 50% larger zoom. It seemed very similar to the previous model (generally excellent and pretty much the best reviewed travel zoom on the market) although developed (in less than a year) a clicking and alarming grinding noise when retracting the zoom. It went back to Jessop's under warranty and I got used to the TZ100 again. When it returned some 6 weeks later it quickly returned to the clicking noise. What with lockdown and Jessop’s risky recent history of receivership I didn’t feel it was the time to put it in for further repair (might never see it again) and mainly used the TZ100, saving the TZ200 for what might be a limited and unreliable lifespan. (It could well be all the shoogling from running everywhere was causing the problems.)

However, I happened to be browsing the manual recently and noticed it said a clicking noise associated with zoom retraction was normal and just to live with it. This encouraged me to adopt the TZ200 for day to day butterfly hunting, and recently the clicking (and more worrying grinding) has stopped. I suspect the warmer weather has maybe expanded the cramped interior and there has been room for smoother operations and the zoom lens retracting into the casing with more ease. It has been trouble free for a month. I have even stopped carrying the TZ100 as backup. I fully anticipate it will all go tits up at the most inopportune time; a clouded yellow or camberwell beauty wafts past etc. This happened in miniature recently when a Wall settled on the Cranesbill under my nose in Holyrood, and the TZ200, anxious to add drama, flashed up the message sd card full. Which it was not. I missed the shot but rather than try to flip through the day’s pics deleting the least gratifying I had the bright idea of popping out and re-inserting the sd card. Which worked. It wasn't full at all. Sometimes the battle with technology is best approached from leftfield rather than head-on.

Rare open wing shot of Wall

Fairly crappy as they insist on social distancing of about 4m.

Lots of cinnabar moths

This one was weirdly sporting a stud on its right wing tip.

No idea - maybe some mini parasite.

Best viewed in flight for these scarlet wings.

After lying around on the grass (first ticks of the year picked up here) capturing the cream of the coppers I had to choose: either the John Muir Way and the other side of Gullane, or Marl Loch over the bridge to enchantment. I opted for Marl Loch and cycled back to Aberlady and across the bridge, handlebars 3" clear either side of the rails.

It was particularly warm which was noticed by the four-spotted chasers. They were in the process of emerging and a couple fluttered unsteadily from the reeds as I went past. Once properly dried out they whiz across the water at 30mph and won't let you within 2m. However on leaving their exuviae they are a bit dozy. And happy to climb onto a warm (possibly sweaty) finger and hold on while I shot video and photos. Such a treat! (For me not the 4-spot!)

After the pond I cycled up to Gullane Point. I jumped off my bike to try and photo a Wall which was sunbathing around the anti-tank concrete blocks. A couple of runners passed by and turned out to be Seamus and pal. Nice to catch up briefly. I headed up to the top of the golf course where there is a sunlit wall where Walls like to sit. Not terribly happy about my proximity but I managed to get a couple of shots before it took off.

There are also a couple of Lilac shrubs in flower at the end of the wall beside the opening at the top of Whim Rd. A peacock and a GVW were busy there. This inspired me to cycle to the far end of Gullane and the gatehouse at Archerfields to the 2 Lilac bushes just outside. However the flowers there had tipped over into fading and there wasn't the same crowd of visitors there had been last time. I cycled down the path through the golf course turning left and along through the dunes to the woods. Where there were a couple of Speckleds.