best part of the day: pearl harbour

11th May 2021

2018 and I boldly went in search of Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries. Inspired by the Michael Easterbrook's Field and Site Guide I headed to the pylons in Linn of Tummel, (blog here) a spectacular and beautiful part of the world where I found PBFs flitting around the bracken and bugle. I repeated the adventure in 2019 with even greater success, and honed the running part at the same time. Covid stopped any chance of repeating this in 2020 and so I was VERY excited about the prospect of doing it again this year.

In 2019 I noticed some of the butterflies had worn white fringes round their wings - a sign they had been out and flying for maybe a week or longer before I arrived on the 17th May. So I was thinking a wee bit earlier would be ideal. And when I saw the best forecast (not ideal but mixed sun and cloudy, but warm - up to 15') for Pitlochry was on the 11th, I earmarked that as D-Day. If I am allowed to say D-Day and Pearl Harbour in the same blog. It does feel like a campaign; maybe not a war. There was much to be done.

black rock (of Black Rock 5 fame) and Edinburgh

First I had to negotiate the Trainline website and buy a cheap day return that allowed me to travel at, what looked like to me, peak rate times. Leaving 08.35 returning 16.21. The difference in price was £24 vs about twice that. Trainline said it was okay but I felt I had to print out the online chitchat where they state which trains I had specified. I hadn't used the printer since we changed out router. God knows the printer has a mind of its own without having to key in a new wifi password which has 14 digits incl upper and lower case and the printer only has a 3 button input dialogue. Both times I got to the 8th element it felt a compulsion to move to the next screen which inevitably said the process had failed. Well d'oh. I eventually stopped with the set-up wizard and managed to circumvent the password by pushing the magical blue button on the side of the new router. Way TMI, I know. It's as well I had a day off before the trip to do this and pack sandwiches and drinks for a day out running. I had to use a larger than usual pack to carry all this, plus the new camera and a change of clothes. BTW nobody questioned my cheap day return tickets. And BTW they are now back to checking tickets onboard the train which had been suspended for much of the last year.

Also I downloaded Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (of Martian fame) to my MP3 player which really helped pass the 2 hour journey both ways. In fact it was one of the best parts of the day. (Ooh spoiler alert?) Haven't finished it yet so the jury is still out but it is in many ways quite similar to The Martian and not like the other less good one in between. (Artemis).

Setting off I felt elated. (Pret 99p filter coffee helping.) The sun was shining enough to cause a shadow (the butterfly minimum requirement). I had seen Orange Tips cavorting as the train pulled out of Perth. I had gone over the route in my head (and had a copy wired into my Suunto sat-nav) and had all I needed for a perfect day out. I was carrying my compact camera in my hand for establishing shots and peoples' gardens full of stone animals, and the big camera in my back pack for butterfly shots. Along with a litre and a half of juice in my reservoir. My back pack was really heavy for a 20mile run but I knew it would get lighter as the sandwiches, juice and sports bars disappeared. I crossed the pedestrian bridge under the A9 to the West of Pitlochry and continued on for a couple more miles to the Coronation bridge, a small iron span across the river that takes you into Linn of Tummel and a magical world.

coronation bridge

map from 2019

the pylons

I arrived at the pylons (venues 1 and 2) at 6 seconds past 11. I anticipated seeing the first PBF before 11.01 such was their abundance last 2 visits. I did not. It was a little overcast and I was sure when the sun came back out, so would the butterflies. But walking about the area I couldn't see any bugle. The purple flowers they visit. This was my first Oh Shit moment. I'm here too soon! I spent 10 minutes walking about venue 1 and my mood went downhill fast. I tried to reassure myself there was a whole day ahead and loads of opportunities to see the delicate orange butterflies. But I was seriously concerned. No bugle, no moths, no speckleds. Last visits there had been Brown Silverline moths by the dozen. Similarly Carpet and Speckled Yellow. There were a few bees but no lepidoptera at all. Rather than cry all the way back to the station and get the next train home I braced myself for a less exciting day out than planned and headed West to the next pylon along.

dor beetle - black on top but lovely sheen underneath

No butterflies there either. I did not spend long looking. Instead my mind was recalling every butterfly enthusiast North of the Forth complaining they had seen nothing this year. That poor weather and low temps had been a blight and ....stop that backchat! It will do no good. Go run 20 miles and then you can say there are no butterflies. The sun might really come out later (forecast said 11.00 till 13.00 was peak sunshine) and all the good stuff. More time at venue 3. Hup two! But yes, I was gutted.

possibly a willow warbler, I was now grasping at straws

2 guys, hikers, were sitting on a bench up the path. We exchanged hellos and they asked if I knew the whereabouts of Coronation Bridge. I said I had crossed it earlier and gave a rough idea of how to get there. It felt cheering to speak and joke with someone else, and while chatting a speckled wood landed nearby and I took a couple of photos. That was cheering as well. And the first sign of bugle just pushing through the undergrowth. Good omens all about and my heart lifted slightly, although I had a strong feeling it wasn't going to be a PBF day.

This building above has polite signs posted all around saying keep out the private gardens and instead use the riverside path. It is a great path (although a bit soggy in places) so no problem and a new route to me this year. Much better than running on the narrow road to the Queen's View Cafe which has lots of logging traffic lorries and minibuses zooming along the pavement-less road. Slightly slower but much more scenic taking the riverside tracks. Probably should have worn trail shoes over road shoes.

best speckled of the day
(only 2 photo-ed which gives idea of scarcity)

the view from the Queen's View

In previous trips here the Queen's View Cafe marked the halfway point and a snack stop before venue 3 and the return run back to the station. I was here much earlier because I hadn't been taking photos of butterflies and was now already cutting my losses and decided not to stop for soup and bread and keep expenditure for maybe the return visit in a couple of weeks if the sun ever came out properly again. Can you tell how cheerful I was feeling? Haha! It wasn't that bad, but I was going through the motions without excessive joy. I would eat my sandwiches at venue 3, go for a walk up the hill and hope there was enough wildlife to justify bringing along a half ton camera and running 20 miles.

female OT in QV car park

About half a mile or less after the Queen's View is this official track up the hill. It has admirable composting long drop toilets just near the car park. Some of the trails are dirt single track, most, wide enough to drive a 4x4 up. I had put a rough map of where to wander into my watch but hadn't expected to have enough extra time to use it. The climb upwards revealed some near perfect scenery with snowy hilltops in the far distance, Loch Tummel in the foreground.

road shoes were okay
trail shoes might have been better for the new riverside trails I found this year

this is venue 3

The main trails climbs up the hill. Not far into it is this cut away and what might once have been a trail but is now no longer used. It points back towards the Queen's View and is marked by these 3 or 4 fallen trees. Just around the trees are some dandelions. In 2019 these were being visited every 2 minutes by flocks of Pearl-bordereds while I sat on the grass taking photos. Today there were only about 3 dandelion flower heads over 30 yards. It was the end of my optimism. I saw no butterflies of any description while I ate my sandwiches. In 2019 there were whites and OTs and PBFs flitting between various flowers. I knew the season was just not far enough along. I gave up any hope of butterflies today and after my sandwich resorted to just enjoying a bit of a hike up the hill.

putting the B in bugle

a beardy lichen tree further up the hill

holy shit an actual butterfly
only peacock of the day

some ancient people's home known as the Family Circle
couldn't be bothered reading the blurb

top of the hill

There were a couple of lochans or watery holes at the top of the hill but I hadn't properly marked them on my satnav map. I was hoping they would be obvious from the top but they weren't. No point in looking for dragonflies if there were no butterflies. Also if I missed the train there was a 4 hr wait for the next one and I was in a less than brilliant mood already - no need to spend 4 hrs in a pub getting wasted. I put the big camera away and jogged downhill and back the road I had come. Along the roadside I saw a large verge of garlic mustard and sure enough a couple of OTs sitting out the now overcast day. Because my butterfly quotient was way lower than I'd hoped for, I stopped for some photos. Just the compact in macro mode, wasn't worth getting the big camera out for and also it was on a precipitous drop off. I held onto the metal road barrier with one extended arm while leaning over the drop with the camera in the other. The butterflies were fairly obliging but the weather was now a bit dull for unlit macro pics.

this really shows the problem (not just sunshine)
compare it with last time's photo and the tree covered in leaves

2019

leaves suggest this year's Spring hasn't actually sprung

This Green Tiger Beetle was probably the highlight of the day. I was going over venue 2 in a last ditch attempt, a never-say-never, just in case I could rescue the day with a PBF sighting. (I couldn't.) And this glorious creature ran across the landscape just in front of me. I took loads of photos of him in the landscape but they just don't show him properly. (No idea if its a male or female.) So I briefly coaxed it onto my hand where it is easier to get a decent photo. I met a very similar one up in the forest on my 2018 trip. And have seen others in Tentsmuir. But they seemed smaller. This one was huge - or maybe just had a big character. Possibly about an inch long. And very lively. Would not hold still for a photo. What a beauty though!

dipper

more dor beetle fun
these dung beetles are distantly related to scarabs

Judging by the way (s)he is waving I interpreted this as "Put me down! And put me down back on the centre of that road I was enjoying. As soon as you leave I am going straight back onto that tarmac road. I don't want to live anymore. I want to be crushed to a pulp by a logging lorry. I am tired of living in other people's poop in a damp cold country. I believe in transmigration of the soul and I'm going to be a kangaroo in a hot country. I'm outta here, PUT ME DOWN!