Saturday April 10th. Some Winter, some Spring. The frustration of knowing the butterflies and sunshine are just around the next corner but having to wait until that corner is turned. Half of me tries to tell myself don't spend your whole life wishing it away for the future, enjoy the moment you are in, appreciate all the good stuff you are surrounded by. The other half hates the cold northern climes of this outpost of civilisation where butterflies are absent half the year. And there are only a fraction of the species count of anywhere and everywhere South of us. And yet... it was very reassuring that friends who took a sabbatical to Gibraltar for 2 years, returned to Edinburgh with joy to be coming HOME. That you can actually get too much sunshine. (I know! Seems hard to believe.)
We decided to drive to Silverknowes and run the Almond and maybe do the airport route. It was bright but cool and was as likely to hail as turn warm. We followed the trails down by the Almond and ended up slightly off-piste in the trees before the grotto bridge. This, for reasons inexplicable but mainly traditional, means an Intentional Camera Movement photo with the camera turning on the horizontal axis making the trees blur in a vertical manner. Much to my surprise I got it first take. (The trick is to zoom in a little which slows the shutter speed.)
I C M
path blocked by ferocious beast
path pleasantly dry compared to winter splosh
When we got to a sunny corner with a patch of yellow coltsfoot or lesser celandine I asked the boss for a quick break to scout for butterflies. We quickly came across this rather handsome small tortoiseshell, which I'm sorry to report was actually shivering - twitching wings back and forwards in short beats presumably to try and get enough warmth into its system to retreat back in whatever winter hibernation spot it was regretting leaving earlier. First and last butterfly of the day!
Mary marks the spot.
Elsewhere this bee was kitting itself out with a hardhat for hail protection. Light icy rain fell just minutes later. It did not improve anything.
We diversioned into Cammo. I was trying to sway the route this way rather than the Dalmeny Estate as Jim H had seen a comma butterfly there the week before. There was a slim chance it had become frozen to the ground frost and we'd get to see it. Alas no. But it was a pleasant place for a wander with lots of blossom and a few birds and bees.
through the dark door of Winter and into Spring
(as if)
walled garden wall
On the way out the estate I remembered a birdfeeder hung in a tree on the edge of a field that made for bird photos. Unfortunately it is really near a bench where some ladies with dogs sat smoking and blethering. Mary, too embarrassed, did a circuit of the field. Undeterred but underwhelmed, I set up a protest photo-session and after only about 15 or 20 minutes the fishwives and mutts eventually moved on. The photos were not great. I think the atmosphere had been too badly polluted.
The sun blinked in and out behind some spectacular clouds and we ran the last couple of miles back to Silverknowes on the quietest available trails. We cut into the fields South of the esplanade and the increased distance from the great unwashed who were walking dogs, skating children, pushing prams, buying burgers and coffees and generally littering the place was a blessed relief. If it is one lesson we have all learned during the pandemic it is that distancing from each other is essential.
Wintry storms blowing in from Fife
nice black tongue
the end
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