into the blue

 

18th June

I had the Friday off work and the forecast was decent. I thought of all possible venues for Summer butterflies and couldn't think of anywhere better than Holyrood. More species than nearly anywhere, and only a mile from home. Camera in back pack, and off up the road. 

scorpion fly

filming the birds on the crags

nba

silver-ground carpet moth

grasshopper

kestrel flying off with another bird
nature can be harsh

2nd scorpion fly

cinnabar moth undercover

There is a new NBA corner between the old one (at the bottom of the scree slope) and the crags - just below Hutton's Section. It's not really a corner and you wouldn't think there was anything special about it. But a combination of windshade and flowering plant life has produced a small colony of NBAs a week or 2 behind the other place. Which makes it a better spot for fresher specimens. 

cinnabar

common blue

These 2 male blues were along the crags in the 2nd bay. I had to cross the barriers to wander along this way. I regard the barriers as a warning that I do so at my own risk. The fact the radical road has been closed for several years (without any indication that it will ever be open again) and there are no regular rock falls at the Southern end, other than that which has been deliberately pulled down; well I'm prepared to take my chances. Apart from climbers, the barriers have really decreased human traffic along there and so there might be even more butterfly action than usual. It won't have harmed numbers. 

These 2 males had no females to chase (though they would dance around in search) and were entertaining each other by chasing back and forth then returning to sit near each other on the long grasses. Which allowed me to take my time getting in close for photos and trying to get them both in the same frame. It was mixed cloud and sun - possibly the best weather for butterflies appearing then settling for photos. I spent maybe 15mins or maybe an hour crawling on hands and knees through the long grasses. I get lost in the process and concentration, and lose all sense of time and place having an almost out-of-body experience becoming at one with the surroundings. I suspect it is good for one's soul and wipes away the day-to-day worries and annoyances. (And then return to social media afterwards thinking why on earth was I bothering to argue with that collection of total losers?) 

The partly overcast weather was encouraging the blues to sit with wings open.

There is something about the texture of this dried flowerhead
that compliments the butterfly - one of my favourite pics this Summer.

wall - in decline from now on out,
until the 2nd brood in August

In the 3rd bay (the Quarry, where climbers used to hang out although signs were up to ask them not to) there were some browns and a couple of Small Tortoiseshell flying about like crazy. There were at least 2 and one was fresh and new, the other older and a bit worn but still vigorous. 

newer model

after photoshop

So here's a thing: do I use photoshop much to enhance or even fake my images? Yes and no. Here is a perfect example of something I think is worth photoshopping. I used the clone tool to remove an annoying stalk of grass from this image of a meadow brown. It was a distraction from the subject and the photo is better as a result. Most of the time I do not bother. It is just not worth the effort. Occasionally I touch in something or more often remove distractions but I don't have the time to radically rearrange stuff in photos. I don't even bother to shoot in raw as I don't have the hard drive space. (An average 800 shots (a decent day out) is about 3GB in jpgs rather than over 20GB in raw.) And prefer to concentrate on taking better photos rather than manipulate 2nd rate photos to make slightly better images. I can't really see the point in raw other than to improve or tweak sub-optimal images. And it takes up masses of space. Life is too short. 

before photoshop

older model

On the way back past bay 2 I couldn't help but get caught up by the blues again. I find it nearly impossible to walk past a perfect common blue and not get drawn in. They are just so dazzling. Especially when they aren't zooming about but settling and posing on top of grass stalks with wings open. They were also landing on the low growing wild thyme as were the tortoiseshells.

2 caterpillars that won't be making it to adult

cinnabar at half mast

As I returned over the back of the crags this kestrel was soaring on the breeze looking for prey. I was behind and downwind and quietly got really quite close before it noticed I was just yards away. Then, nearer Haggis Knowe a gang of swifts and swallows were zooming about, making everything else look laboured and slow. I love their missile-like flight. Almost impossible to catch with the camera but if you set the zoom to just a little and point it in their random direction as they whistle past, about one in 20 shots comes out, with a bit of cropping!

I stood near the loch at the bottom of Haggis Knowe taking bad swallow pics and noticed a sleepy looking crow. It looked at me to see if it needed to bother moving or not, and feeling its pain I threw it some seeds I carry to bribe birds. 2 minutes later and this was the scene. They do not need much encouragement! I was repeating the pigeon thing Mary and I did here last time, but with crows this time not pigeons. Although commonplace they are pretty magnificent if you take the time to have a chat and get close in with the zoom. 

c'mon, no fighting chaps

I think this was a new record with the bridge camera - 1110 shots (3.97GB) over 3hrs! And I don't even shoot in burst mode. Great day out, pass the external hard drive.