Saturday 25th June and since Mary is not able to run, we went for a walk to Warriston.
I had had a couple of uninspiring visits there - lack of birds and not much to photograph, everything seemed hidden by the thick canopy of large trees, blocking much of the light. So it has become less of a first choice Summer venue. The variety of butterflies is restricted compared to the marvels of Holyrood. However it is just a mile along the road and worth a wander.
These fields at the end of of MacDonald Road used to be bowling greens. They were decommissioned, then the council (or owner), no doubt seeing the huge amount of dog poop accumulating, fenced them off. They have very rapidly turned into wildflower mini-meadows, and are a pretty decent example of rewilding, much as I sneer at these middle-class eco buzzwords. I mean the hypocrisy of folk thinking they are super-green planet-savers because they eat organic vegan diets but drive 4x4s, buy new kitchens every 5 years, and holiday abroad 3 times a year... etc.
Mary-photo
I hadn't been to Warriston for a while and wondered how many "friends" would be there and if anyone would recognise me. The robins are all still awol. Not sure if they are hiding young families, or just not where they used to hang out in the Winter, but no sign. However there was a very warm welcome from this crow who followed Mary and I around the the riverside area. I think it is the same one that is often near the tunnel. It would follow me until I put some bread out. I only had seeds with me on this occasion and it wasn't particularly bothered about them. I began to think it was just chumming along for company rather than handouts. Mary was slightly uneasy about it; it would fly within inches to sit on a nearby stone as we went past then repeat the process as we walked on.
red admiral
Just through the tunnel and near where the In Loving mosaic is, is a good spot for butterflies. The orange tips have all gone, but we came upon this excellent new Comma, which was sitting on leaves there and would swoop off when we got too close, then return and land nearby on the same leaves.
wading into the undergrowth
It was great to see this bright new specimen and it really cheered up the trip to Warriston. Commas are relatively few and far between there, so I wasn't expecting it. The place is nearing maximum growth currently and as near to overgrown as it gets. The council seems to do a fair amount of gardening to keep paths clear and some of the grass mown, but they mostly manage to avoid overdoing it. Some of the smaller trails through undergrowth are in danger of becoming impassable (esp wearing shorts) but mostly it is looked after about the right amount. Neither too little nor too much.
Because I hadn't seen such a fantastic comma in a while I took far too many photos. This is a tiny amount of the whole so consider yourself lucky.
Mary almost stepped on this cracking red admiral as we were leaving the In Loving area. It was very large and had the last white dot of the forewings on the red band, a trait more prevalent on the females apparently. This confirms the gender of the admiral which you would have noticed from the curvaceous body, (males having a more parallel body shape.) Females are slightly larger than males.
speckled wood
lots of wildflowers and unmown grasses
more admiral
meadow brown
remnants of green veined white
Talking of politics and war, I can't understand why Zelensky is so keen to reduce the Ukraine to a pile of rubble and corpses, in the name of freedom. Surely it is a war they cannot win. Not without the West joining in to the extent that it kicks off WW3. So Putin will win. I know the underdogs sometimes avoid outright defeat. But is it worth the bombing and high death toll? Did anyone canvas the dead to see if they thought it was worth it? Surely if the Ukraine capitulated, said yes we're all good Russians, then went on as before while only paying lip service to Putin, then all the cities not reduced to rubble and the lives not lost or ruined would be a net gain. I'd quite like Scotland to be independent of English rule but it's not worth starting a war over, and I certainly wouldn't sign up for it.
I think maybe because Zelensky is young and so full of fight for a war, he is happy to go down fighting. I'm not quite sure what he is hoping for or what can be achieved. Even with the huge weight of propaganda being pored out by the BBC and other news outlets. I know Putin is the bad guy here but when the bad guy has all the advantages; technology, troops and weapons, you surely have to think tactically. And yet everyone with their support the Ukraine paraphernalia is surely just coaching them towards genocide. To say nothing of the Russian troops that will die in a war they probably aren't that keen on either. (Can't the same effort be put into bumping off Putin?) And a bunch of cities that are fast resembling the rubble of Syria. This doesn't seem to make sense. Unless you consider humans and cities to be disposable.
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We left by the wall step-over and headed towards Tescos before dropping down to Warriston Road to check the buddleias at the end of Logie Green Road. It seems no time since we were doing this regularly last year, photographing flotillas of admirals with the river as backdrop. Just a solitary meadow brown on this occasion although there was an admiral along by Powderhall bridge.
nada - it can take a few weeks for the buddleia plumes to ripen before the
butterflies really begin to land in numbers and feast
meadow brown
heron
I really enjoyed the chat and company with Mary (which we've been missing at the weekends, no longer doing the Gullane run, which always involved car-banter catch-ups as well as running,) so didn't want to overdo it, hoping it could become a regular route. We returned without a 4hr stand (as I might do solo) and it was a good reminder of all that Warriston has to offer. (Although I think it is a better Winter venue than Summer.) The comma was there next time as well so check it out if visiting.
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