best part of the day: neighbourhood watch

18th August

We have all been exploring locally more during covid, looking in our own back-gardens and nearest riverside trails rather than going further afield. I have been spending more time looking for local wildlife hot spots and enjoying nearby cemeteries. A great place I hadn't been to in a while was Dr. Neil's Garden at Duddingston. I was last there right at the start of the butterfly season, in fact a smidge too early on the 26th March and it was sleeting - not ideal butterfly weather. I won't repeat all the stuff about Dr Neil and his wife Dr. Neil, because I already wrote it down on that blog.

On the way I checked out Hunter's Bog. I'd been through a couple of times recently and noticed that when sunny the place was jumping with odonata. Not just damselflies but what looked like a few hawkers too. Unless they are sat still I don't have the capacity to photograph them well, although I have tried on several occasions with less than great results. I suspect you need a DSLR with a big lens. Or more patience than I have. On one occasion though I was fairly close to one of the larger jobs and this photo below says emperor rather than common hawker. I could well be wrong as I wasn't aware I had seen one till after I examined the photo and looked at my laminate of dragonflies. In fact what I really need is a decent book of UK dragonflies (and damselflies) with hoverflies, bees and beetles. That's prob too much to ask for but maybe insects would cover it. Although moths as well. It takes ages to google that stuff. I can't believe the neck of folk who just go on dragonfly group pages and say hey what's this? Makes me want to ask have they heard of google. That said, I did pester a moth expert recently doing exactly that after 40 mins of googling revealed nothing. But there are only about 20 UK dragonflies. Although more often than not both sexes are different in colour and each sex has an immature (teneral) phase, a mature phase, and an over-mature phase if they live that long. But hell, easy compared to the thousands of moths. I might have to buy a couple of books.

I have been amused by people using apps to identify stuff. First it was wildflowers, next birdcalls, now dragonflies. Only some of those apps were developed in the US where they have a different smorgasbord of anisoptera. And so people were getting misinformation that their common darter was some glam US import never before seen this side of the Atlantic.

my diagnosis: emperor.
(Forgive the quality of photo.) Could easily be wrong

common darter

emerald damselflies

common darters - male orange

mediocre pics of distant dragonflies!

three's a crowd

sorry missus for cropping you
the wind was blowing things to hell

I am not going to rant about this fence. But I think it is waste of money and extremely ugly and unnecessary. The park is being mismanaged by Historic Environment Scotland because they are treating it as a monument, not a park. So if a bit of a monument under their care is in need of attention they cordon it off until the funding is there to fix it. So now we have something that looks like a concentration camp fencing off Hutton's Section and the bottom of the radical road. Only you can easily sidestep the big fence by stepping over a little staked fence next to the radical road or climbing down the back of the crags at the lowest point which is not even a grade 1 scramble in terms of difficulty. So these fences are purely for show and to cover the park's insurance. And will be there indefinitely as far as the park rangers know or are prepared to say. Does anyone in the park think this is a good response to the situation? I haven't to date breached these defences but if they are there next Spring I won't be limited by them.

They have slightly beefed up the temporary barriers on the high road but they were still easily passable with some light climbing. Wouldn't fancy it with a bike on my shoulder but as a pedestrian they were easy.

As I was near the top of the steps at Duddingston I saw what I thought was a barn owl fly past. Someone who knew better suggested from underwing patterns that short eared owl was more likely. Maybe even related to the one that nested in Hunter's Bog a while back. I never bothered to visit that one as I heard it was a little bit oversubscribed and too large a crowd might scare it and the family off. I ran back up to the road but couldn't see where the owl went; it had completely disappeared.

I also had a quick look around Duddingston Loch and the shoreside path below the Queen's Drive. A few darters and damsels there enjoying the sunny weather.

I hadn't even got in the gate to Dr. Neil's when I came across this painted lady on and around the buddleia there. It was slightly in the shade and not making my life easier for it. It flew onto the ground and sat in the sun contemplating. I lay on the ground nearby and took loads of photos. Luckily not too many people passing by although there was a fringe or festival show going on in the gardens. A couple more buddleia shots then it flew up, up and away. Painted Ladies have been very thin on the ground this year so I was very pleased to get some decent photos of this one.

Inside the gardens there was a show going on. I got close enough to hear theatrically broad scotch accents trowelled on for the English tourists. Och aye, you are gettin' a brrraw scotch play spoken in a tongue ne'er heard ootside drrrama college. I stayed out of earshot in case anyone tried to sell me a ticket. Right round the other side was the only place I could find any butterflies. A buddleia and a stone wall to sunbathe on. One red admiral (again comparatively rare this year), 2 peacocks and a green veined white chilling on some greenery nearby like it had a festival hangover.

at one point these three butterflies left the buddleia

and made a lovely triangle on the warm stone wall!

I left the garden by going through the allotments next door. I'm not sure if they are under the same auspices as the gardens next door or if they are unrelated. But there is a nice path and various very pleasant aspects and plants. Apple trees heavy with apples and a few butterflies, peacocks and whites flitting about.

apples

After exiting I went back through Holyrood for a quick look at a few spots on my way home. There was very little about, but it was nice weather for a look. And bumped into Ken and had a quick chat about this and that.