In August last year Mary and I came across Holly Blues in a couple of spots in Gullane. (Blog here.) It caused something of a flutter in the butterfly world because Holly Blues are frustratingly rare and mysterious and for them to appear next to a main road and elsewhere within easy reach of a camera lens was almost unheard of. Except in England. If you travel a few hundred miles South they are the most common blue to fly through people's gardens. However in Scotland they only seem to flutter about the tops of high ivy clad walls and 50' holly trees. And rarely seem to visit the same site twice, so it can be frustrating tracking them from previous year's sightings. I know this from experience.
common blue as opposed to a holly blue (first image at top of page is an HB)
The big question was would they return to the same places around Gullane this year? There are probably 2 generations per year, and in the Spring I could not find any signs of them. We were in lockdown, but I snuck out on my bike to scrutinse Gullane sites a good (social) distance from any other humans. (And still got critiqued for travelling outwith the strict guidelines of lockdown. Fair enough it wasn't exactly an essential journey, despite being much safer than a trip to the supermarket.) What I hadn't taken into account was the foodplant that had played such a part last August - flowering snowberry canes - were not in flower in Spring. So even if Holly Blues had emerged they might well be using different flowers, in different places, as food.
There was no sign of any around Gullane and that was that, until 24th July when Richard posted a sighting and pic of one in Gullane. We had both been watching out for them. There were few about to start with and the weather was not great for the ones "up the hill" where the wind and lack of sun kept them from appearing in the numbers (2~6 at a time) they had last August.
Also the snowberries up the hill at the West end of Gullane, seemed stunted and shrivelled from a very dry Spring, and late to flower. Initially there were more sightings on the ivy clad wall next to the now famous public toilets on Goose Green Rd. than on snowberries. Since last year the house behind that wall has changed hands and I got speaking to the new owners who initially were very welcoming of the idea of a rare butterfly and said to ring the bell and come into the garden to have a look. I think the husband might have had a quiet word about not inviting everybody and their dog into their garden as the wife's initial response was more muted on subsequent meetings and I never did find out what was on the other side of the garden wall. Although snowberries were mentioned. Which makes sense.
So the elements that seem to be required for Holly Blues: holly or ivy or shiny leaved heavily foliaged covering. Plus snowberries or other flowers for food. Plus a tall tree. Possibly a holly tree. But also there does seem to be a sycamore tree close to every sighting I have made of HBs in Gullane. Although there are a lot of sycamores about. HBs have been spotted landing on the leaves and searching the leaves for mates.
There was no sign of any around Gullane and that was that, until 24th July when Richard posted a sighting and pic of one in Gullane. We had both been watching out for them. There were few about to start with and the weather was not great for the ones "up the hill" where the wind and lack of sun kept them from appearing in the numbers (2~6 at a time) they had last August.
Also the snowberries up the hill at the West end of Gullane, seemed stunted and shrivelled from a very dry Spring, and late to flower. Initially there were more sightings on the ivy clad wall next to the now famous public toilets on Goose Green Rd. than on snowberries. Since last year the house behind that wall has changed hands and I got speaking to the new owners who initially were very welcoming of the idea of a rare butterfly and said to ring the bell and come into the garden to have a look. I think the husband might have had a quiet word about not inviting everybody and their dog into their garden as the wife's initial response was more muted on subsequent meetings and I never did find out what was on the other side of the garden wall. Although snowberries were mentioned. Which makes sense.
So the elements that seem to be required for Holly Blues: holly or ivy or shiny leaved heavily foliaged covering. Plus snowberries or other flowers for food. Plus a tall tree. Possibly a holly tree. But also there does seem to be a sycamore tree close to every sighting I have made of HBs in Gullane. Although there are a lot of sycamores about. HBs have been spotted landing on the leaves and searching the leaves for mates.
The day following Richards sighting, 25th July, Mary and I ran round the usual route at Gullane. I was in a bit of a muted frenzy knowing our little blue friends were out and about but Mary was not that bothered having had her fill last year and not seeing why I should be concerned about an event we had fully covered last year. It wasn't great weather for butterflies - though there were plenty other flies about - so I was probably hoping it would warm up and the wind die down during our run, which would justify a look "up the hill" before returning to the car.
shaded broad bar
bumped into Ann and Michael at Aberlady
latticed heath moth
We had a limited amount of time as I had a hair appointment back in Edinburgh at 3.40pm. Usually I just queue in my local barber but due to covid he was only taking specified appointments. I didn't want to miss it or arrive late and unwashed. So said to Mary as we were running along Aberlady beach that if she wasn't bothered about HBs (and she really wasn't) I'd run off ahead and go check the place up the hill and meet her back at the car. I ran off at great speed reckoning if I was fast I'd earn about 10mins of Holly Blue time up the hill. I checked my watch so as not to get caught up and stay half and hour by mistake!
up the hill
The snowberry canes were still a bit shrivelled looking although there were small flowers and occasional berries. At the far end (North) I briefly saw a male HB dodging about looking for mates and not really stopping much. At one point he landed and I forced myself through the shoulder high snowberries to get near for an out of focus shot. Then he took off again and flew over the fence and high tree. Useless. I mooched around for 10 mins then ran down the hill to Mary at the car which was parked beside the ivy wall and toilets.
common blue
While getting ready to leave I saw the light denim colour of a holly blue appear from the top of the ivy wall and flutter down to a nearly photograph-able position on the ivy. I took a couple of shots but they weren't great. Nice to confirm they were in the area. I'd return several times over the next couple of weeks. And there were loads of reports from butterfly enthusiasts seeing them in their ones and twos around the Gullane area in more and more different venues. As far West as Aberlady and as far East as Archerfields and even North Berwick. We'd see them fluttering across Goose Green when parking the car there to go running. I'd chased one but it flew up into a large (sycamore) tree. And another flew behind a high wall of ivy. It would be 3 weeks before another significant encounter and the mystery is far from cracked. But great to see them again this year.
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