the sun always shines on TV

 

Tayvallich

20th~23rd July

Since Mary has to book time off her NHS work well in advance, it was a happy coincidence that she chose a few days right in the middle of the summer heat wave. The Berlingo had limped through its MOT recently so we threw a few running and swimming clothes in the back and drove West to see Mary's sister and family in Tayvallich for the first time in yonks. It was very VERY good. The excellent weather made it special, as did the fact that it is an incredibly scenic place there at this time of the year. And there were loads of dragonflies! 

Mary did a fine job of driving us there. I did a slightly less good job of navigating including a few unnecessary detours around Stirlingshire because we were using a road atlas from the 1950s. It is a pain of a place to get to but worth the long haul. I think it takes less time to get from home to Spain (via the airport) than it took us to drive to TV. (Pleased to say we were an hour faster on the return journey, but that is due to our destination, Edinburgh, being more well signposted from further away. There were no signs anywhere near Stirling saying Lochgilphead thisaway.) 

When we arrived we left the car at the house and went over to Carsaig pier where we had been told Caroline and Will were having a swim. After a meet-and-greet we left them to it and went for a bit of a walk round the coast with the warning to watch out for snakes which had been prevalent that summer. I was delighted, Mary less so. We took our walking cameras and began to de-stress from the 6 hr journey (incl stops) in the glorious surroundings. 

view towards Jura

does a bear live in the woods?

We established a pattern of eating meals outdoors and drinking quite a bit more booze than we are used to. It was excellent. And we really enjoyed opening windows at night and having nothing more than a cool breeze and owl hoots waft in. Unlike Leith where (post lockdown) you get the raucous shouts and squabbles of drunks and fighting couples. 

After breakfast I was out in the sun looking for stuff to photograph. There were a few butterflies about - small torts, whites and an occasional admiral, but not as many as you might expect. I think we were just a little early for Scotch Argus - last time I went it was later in the year, and there were loads, but it was late for dragonflies. This trip I hoped to see more odonata - and was chomping at the bit to get along to Taynish - a National Nature Reserve about a mile away. 

Will, Mary, Caroline

out the back of the house

Caroline is a full time artist and has a studio in the garden next to her home. She regularly exhibits there and elsewhere. We got a tour (it has been built since we were last there) and were very impressed with both the building and the contents. I don't really do instagram but there is some of her work here. You should buy her paintings, they are excellent!

We drove to Taynish, I think that was Mary's idea, so we could have a run and then do photos. The road is longish stretches of single track with passing places, so not very easy or relaxing if you are not used to them. However there wasn't much traffic and we then had the benefit of running kit and big cameras with us.

Earlier in the season (on the last day of May) pals Colin and Joan had come to photograph the Marsh Fritillary, a rare butterfly found at Taynish and not many other places. It was a successful trip (they also photographed the Sword-leaved Helleborine, a rare orchid) and it marked the completion of their quest to see all 34 Scottish Butterfly species in a year. (What is it to be retired!) And quite some achievement given the pandemic.

plenty of speckled woods

large red damselfly

The dirt trail round Taynish is superb running. Broad and flat down the one side and narrow and undulating up the edge of the sea loch, a lovely run through the trees and bracken. There were a few bits of art on the loch side. I am not a big fan of this; when the flora and fauna is so good it tends to make all but the most wonderful art look a bit cheesy or tacky. We had heard there was a heron statue that made someone want to phone the police. The art police maybe. So when we saw it, it didn't seem that bad. But was not good either. Being in such exalted surroundings stuff can look more like flytipping than a well curated exhibit.

Last time I was here there was a really good exhibition of underwater photos hung outside in the remains of a ruined building. They were excellent and relevant photos and made an outdoor space better than had they not been there. So it is possible. But most of the current art there did less than nothing for me. What can I say? I have high standards. Still, as long as nothing on the site is permanent (I suspect the carved seat stones might be) then I don't mind running past with a raised eyebrow and cheeky grin. 

if you are going to hang up text at least hang it straight
I still can't remember reading this, better things to do.


That on the right hand side is a poetry box
not a toilet

the notorious heron
easy to walk past without bothering

back at the car we got out the bigger cameras
and had fun trying to shoot dragonflies

common darter

four-spotted chaser

There is a boardwalk to allow you to keep dry feet while walking out over the swamp. I had brought Hoka Sandals (for swimming) to put on to squelch through the swamp. I kept to the reasonably dry bits as my camera isn't waterproof and once you get into knee deep mud it is hard to stay upright. I didn't really see much more than Mary did, but maybe got a little closer for photos to a couple of different species. Or round a better side to get the light or a better profile. 

emerald damselfly

black darter

common darter
I thought maybe ruddy darter but stripes on legs = common

female black darter or immature male
fairly recently emerged

black darter

common darters mating

brown china mark moth

mystery species!
similar size to common darter

cleg on leg

This brown dragonfly puzzled me for the longest time. There is a brown hawker but this is not it. I thought it must just be another version of a common darter - but the eye colour wasn't right. And yet what else could it be? I took a couple of photos as it was hanging around the path, though I was mainly looking for golden ringed dragonflies which had flown past a couple of times but weren't landing in a helpful way. I had taken a pic of one earlier but just with my compact. I never got another shot with my larger camera but the light was so good you can't really tell the difference. 

golden ringed dragonfly (m)
saw lots of fly pasts but this was the only shot I got

After returning to the house Caroline and Will took us swimming. The sea loch doesn't flush out that much with tides and so stays pretty warm through Summer. It was warmer to get into than Gullane but still required a bit of heavy breathing and gradual immersion to get the head under. Once in it was pleasant to stay in for 30mins or more and I swam up to the island and then across to the other side and back, taking photos with the underwater camera. There was more underwater wildlife than I have seen anywhere. Lots of brittlestars - thousands - everywhere. And spikey anemones and sea cucumbers. It made me nervous of stepping on living things when putting my feet down. And a good reason to wear sturdy sandals. Could have done without so much vegetation to swim through but it all suggested a healthy environment. Great to hear that C&W and the boys have been swimming all Summer. 

careful where you step

small island I swam to

sea condom

a dream of starfish

At one point I just let myself float on my back and totally relaxed. There were no waves to wash into my nose or mouth and I just lay there looking at the sky and listening to my breathing. It was enough to turn you vegetarian. Very lovely!

At one point on the way back to the car there is this fish trap - a natural shallow bay that may well have been enhanced to become a place to confine and catch fish. Or maybe it just happened to accidentally strand shoals of larger fish in a large tidal pool. When you walk through it you can see the fish swimming and when they sense you they will suddenly swoosh away. It does make you want to get a long drag net and catch them. There were also plenty small fish that if you stood still would come and gather in the shelter of your feet and legs. And quite a few crabs that weren't delighted to be lifted out the water for a photo. 

I'll getcha I'll getcha, turn me around and fight like a crab

home

ringlet

So whenever I had a spare hour I would run off to Carsaig for a snake hunt. I interviewed eye-witnesses and made a careful note of all the high risk places. I think I went at least once a day and every time the same result: NADA. When I say nada I mean it was totally beautiful. There were graylings and an occasional blue and something quite large and orange that whenever I got close, it would race off at great speed. I reckoned either a DGF or a large speedy moth like an Eggar. The idea of snakes was both very attractive but also a little alarming. Because you had to walk through areas of dense bracken where you couldn't see what you were standing on. I got a stick with a forked end. But there were disappointingly few occasions to use it.

common blue

grayling

On one snake hunt I saw this couple of dudes off their boat and looking for a camping spot for the night. We exchanged pleasantries and they asked what I was looking for. Next thing they are back in their canoe and maybe considering spending the night aboard their yacht instead. I did wonder if I influenced their decision. I mean everyone likes snakes don't they?

getting down among the grasses to photo this grayling

snake country (allegedly)

snakeskin!!!!!

yellowhammer

noola
she was refreshingly well behaved

Caroline practises her insta-look

Caroline, Mary, Sorley, Donald

and Will

I was somewhat intoxicated by the sunset and the way it was shining through the buddleia. To say nothing of the wine. Anyway I took a lot of photos and they were nearly as good as I imagined they were at the time. Perhaps there was another level of appreciation I was enjoying; along the lines of you had to be there. It was ideal holiday living.

Will called me in to have a look at a large fly that had got indoors. It was em... really large! In my intoxicated state I reckoned it was one of these harmless species that looks a bit like a wasp but isn't. Like a wood wasp. I tried to get it on my hand for a photo but it wouldn't stay on long enough. I took a couple of photos (the quality of which reflect the amount of wine enjoyed) then shooed it out the window. A couple of days later another pal posted a similar specimen on facebook and I had a name for it. The magnificent Tabanus sudeticus or Dark Giant Horsefly, the largest fly in the UK and maybe Europe. 

I was right in as much as it doesn't have a sting. But the females do bite - like smaller horseflies. Human bites are rare because you can hear these zeppelins coming miles off, although they are very swift. Here is an understated account from a blog I found online....

A naturalist friend of mine decided he wanted to experience personally the effects of this fly. He caught one in a jam jar, and then applied it to his hand. The fly took some time to take the hint, but eventually began by scything with its mouth parts to make a wound. Blood began to escape from the wound, and the fly enjoyed its meal. My friend’s first reaction was “Well that’s pretty innocuous.” However, a few hours later his hand swelled up like a balloon, and he became really very ill.

bigger than it looks here!
some drunk getting his hands in the way

More insect folly. This should have been excellent. We set up a moth trap. When I say we I mean Will. We were talking about moth traps and Will looked online to find a suggestion of how you can save £300 and build your own moth trap. We put a light and an upturned vessel of some sort in the bottom of a bucket with some lining paper and retired indoors. I was pretty sure we would find every one of Tayvallich's moth community next morning. In fact there was nada again. Not-a-sausage-moth. I have no idea what went wrong. I imagine there was a huge moth party overnight but somehow they all managed to escape home by daylight. Makes you wonder whether that £300 trap might be worth the investment. 

Another snake hunt in amazing scenery. Birds, butterflies but no snakes.

gotcha!

Found out what the large orange flier was. Stalked it after it glided past and although I didn't get very near I got this in-flight photo (above) which has a Dark Green Fritillary around the centre. Result! It was pretty flighty and would disappear over the next hump, or horizon if I got close. I think this might have been the only one I saw on holiday. They weren't around in the numbers they are on the East coast.

my idea of where snakes should have been sunbathing

(but weren't)

Next day we went up the hill that is in Taynish reserve. It gives a sweaty climb to an excellent viewpoint from where you can see all around for miles. Donald came with us and we had a good chat about his immediate and potential future but probably more about media and culture and what we liked on TV/Netflix. During this we came across a Keeled Skimmer. I saw one before in Spain but this was my first here. It was a cracking colour of light blue with a fatter body than the darters or hawkers. It was also missing half a starboard front wing. In a remarkable piece of photoshoppery (though I say it myself) I doctored in the missing wing for the last photo. I don't normally bother with this degree of bother (it took about 30mins of micro surgery!) but since it was a relatively rare sighting I felt it was worth the effort. If you have any old photos you want retouched or a broken wing put back on a dead grandmother then I am open for business. 

keeled skimmer

Oh and by the way while we're here! This specimen answered the question asked earlier; wtf was that brown one with the blue/grey eyes, that I didn't have a scoobie about. After a bit of a google about the British Dragonfly Society page I found that an over-mature (real term) female keeled skimmer can look kinda brown. Hurray! Mystery solved. Even though it doesn't look much like the male. Here is the pic again...

common white wave (?)

light emerald? (very light!)

We went back to the dragonfly boardwalk to see if there was anything good there. Just 4-spotters and common darters. And we found the exuvia of possibly a darter, difficult to tell. But gives an idea of just how small the nymphs are before they emerge into dragonflies.

also had to tell off this cleg (they have amazing eyes)
bitey wee b'stard

excellent place

We finished the last full day of holiday-time by going (the back way) down to Carsaig Pier for a swim. You know you are in a small friendly community when they can put out a home baking honesty box and folk will swap cash for baking. In Leith the goodies would be robbed, the cash would be robbed and there would be an empty syringe next to a pile of vomit. 

I was feeling tired or not very inspired and was walking around in the water up to my waist (rather than actually swimming) when Will appeared and called me over. He had just cycled past an adder on the road not 75 yards away - if I'd like to see it. (I'd already been on a last chance snake hunt earlier in the day and accepted that I'd not be seeing any this trip.) I frantically jumped out the water and grabbing my camera began to run up the road. A couple getting out their car asked what the excitement was all about and I said there was a snake by the road. The bloke said "Oh I think we just ran that over in our car," and without really thinking about it I responded with a heartsick "oh for goodness sake," in a disgusted tone. Who could run over a snake? The highest possible speed is about 15mph there and you just wouldn't. Not unless you were a total tool. (I heard later he was.)

Sad to say, my only snake experience was a very depressing one. Said snake was still alive but in bad shape and I doubt it lasted much longer. It totally took any joy out of the meeting and I had to really struggle for it not to cast a very gloomy shadow over the last evening. I had to just walk away and pretend it never happened. Such a bummer. 

I couldn't stay gloomy for long though and we enjoyed the remainder of our brief trip. It was just Tuesday till Friday but felt like a real escape to another world. And Caroline and Will looked after us very well. There was another hazy sunset while we ate and drank, and the next day the drive back to Edinburgh was more relaxed than the one going. All in all a superb mini-break to a very lovely part of the world. 

We stopped for a snack break at Inveraray.