luck be a lady

 

Isn't that a curious phrase: luck be a lady. On this occasion luck be a dragonfly. More on that later. Meanwhile it is the 14th October, a Monday, the forecast is strong and I thought a trip to Cammo would be good. I caught a tram to Princes St, then a number 43 bus to Barnton. I tend to go to Cammo during the Winter, putting out food to encourage nuthatches and jays in front of the camera. I realised I'd turned up a month or 2 early when I got to the usual place by the curling pond and it was very much in the dark. I'd forgotten to wait for the leaves to fall off the trees and there was a thick canopy of them blocking out the light. However it was a rather fine day and I reckoned there'd be something around worth a look.

I headed to the walled garden. There are beehives and sometimes birds there. Before I got there I noticed heavy machinery had churned some of the paths to mud. Going through the wall I was saddened to note the machinery churn went into the walled area and they (presumably the council or similar) were doing an overhaul of the walls of the walled garden. Since it has been something of a ruin since I have known it, it is difficult to know how much they intend to restore. The ivy covered walls had had their ivy removed. Presumably to inspect them and see if they were about to fall down. A couple of builders were rebuilding one section of wall and the rest were merely denuded of the ivy. I tip-toed around ankle deep churned muddy paths. The builders were listening to low brow house music which did not add to the loveliness of the day, but also hey, I didn't have to work outdoors all day, so I probably shouldn't complain. Although I'm going to! Back when I was a tradesperson I used earbuds so nobody had to endure what I was listening to. There were occasional birds. I saw a pair of bullfinches but they dove into remaining folliage and ivy and were seen no more.

robin

great tit

chaffinch

working hard rebuilding the wall
and listening to ugly music

However I was greatly cheered when I turned the corner and there were two large patches of flowers in full bloom. Rudbeckia which I recognised from the Botanics as a great source of nectar late in the year, and some purple flowers that I think are asters though google lens calls them Michaelmas-daisies.

If there were any butterflies in the West of Edinburgh they'd be here. (There were not!) There was also a smallish patch of sedum to one side, again another excellent food source for pollinators. I was sure there'd be a butterfly somewhere nearby, but while I waited I took some photos of the hoverflies. 

I swapped lenses from the 400mm to the 90mm for macro shots. The flies seemed really flighty to start with and every time I moved towards one it flew off which was frustrating. Maybe I got more ninja or maybe the flies got used to my company. I tried to stand fairly quietly in among the flowers and wait till the insects landed nearby. Once they were snout deep into the pollen I'd get in closer for the shot. The light was nearly perfect. I'd do a stint of yellow until my eyes were burned out and then do a session of purple. Not a huge variety of hoverflies. I reckoned whoever had planted the flowers had done so for the benefit of the nearby hives of honeybees. Several hives were over in the corner and showing signs of occupation. A few bees flew around the blooms. It was very hypnotic and in the zone to be surrounded by flowers, sunshine and insects buzzing round my ears.

this fly's profile strangely human

Again I was trying to get shots of insects howering in the air. Because it is more difficult to do than shots of them standing on petals. And yet they quite often they will hold their position as they approach a flower. Initially with their legs held up; which are then lowered as they come in for touch down.

marmalade hoverfly
(looking different from the usual with the black lines less connected)

aster la vista

smaller black and silver job: Platycheirus?

marmalade again

google lens says housefly

you can tell how zoomed in I am from
the amount of shoogle in the second clip
You can also hear the distant beat of the builders radio.

Limonid crane fly?

"These are closely related to the crane flies (Tipulidae) but can usually be distinguished by the way the wings are held at rest. Limoniids usually hold the wings along the back of the body whereas tipulids usually hold them out at right angles."

Eristalis pertinax?

asters and rudbeckia

yeah but no but

song thrush

buzzard

I reluctantly left the walled garden and checked out a couple of other places including back to the curling pond which hadn't improved lighting-wise. I also checked the food dump I'd made at the place I have photo-ed jays before and little if nothing was touched. Normally it would be hoaching with nuthatches, squirrels and magpies but the birdbait was still there. This confirmed I'd arrived too early and as yet the Winter scarcity hadn't properly kicked in yet. It was disappointing but all was not lost and with occasional wildlife being heard (buzzards circling above while the garden birds peeped in the trees) I was having a pleasant enough walk. I checked out a hanging birdfeeder near the top of that field, and put some seeds in it. Again, nothing! Maybe there'd be more along the Almond? I was thinking dippers, kingfishers and goosanders, so left Cammo by the North West field and picked up the very narrow lane between houses that leads down to the Almond.

proximity to the airport meant plenty of this

interesting tree / shrub choice
spindle tree or spindle hedge plant Euonymous europaeus

this large dead tree in the centre of the field
always makes an good silhouette

very narrow lane leads to the riverside trails

mini-shetland ponies at Dowie's Mill Lane

heron at the weir

also by the weir, not sure quite how or why!
this is unaltered and pretty much straight out the camera

lots of great colours in the trees along the Almond

buzzard landed opposite but stayed hidden

took off again

I was looking out for kingfishers and dippers but only came across a pair of mallards.

I was approached by a kind if slightly eccentric woman who saw the camera and asked if I was looking for kingfishers. She had seen one going back and forth near where the cafe used to be. I half-jogged in a hurry to get there. Not long after I arrived I saw one fly downstream. I spoke to a family sitting nearby having their lunch and they had seen 2 flying downstream. I hung about for a while then mooched off downstream and saw no further signs of kingfishers. A grey wagtail was slight compensation but it kept its distance across the far bank.

There was a clump of fruiting sunlit ivy by the riverside
which gave me something to do while I waited on kingfishers.

However I had the 400mm lens on and was reluctant to change to the 90mm
for the insects in case the kingfisher returned.

grey wagtail on the far bank

Eventually I gave up and just went downstream to Cramond. I had hoped to engage the black-headed gulls but (again) we weren't quite far enough into the harsh Winter conditions to get them to handfeed and although interested in bread they kept their distance. Once the Winter gets colder they will practically land on your hand to snatch some bread.

 a gang of lapwings around the estuary

crow on a pole

holiday already booked with this firm

the causeway to Cramond Island

a speckled wood

I was pleased to see a speckled wood fly across the beach. It seemed a little out of place, but I gave chase as it wasn't moving fast. I even took some random in flight photos which came out better than I hoped. I had the 400mm lens on and it is not best for this sort of photo, however the camera seemed to know I was looking to focus on the butterfly in the sky and not the landscape background. It landed a couple of times but on very unremarkable surroundings which did not make for quality images. Normally speckleds are more fussy about choosing a special leaf or plant. It flew over towards a dandelion and I thought yes that'll do, only for it to land 3 inches above. What? I tried to accept its choices rather than just chase it onto something more photogenic.

near miss!

great butterfly - drab surroundings

Halfway along the foreshore I was running out of will-to-live. It is a long, quite grim walk and I was feeling a bit tired and hungry by this point (no sandwiches today 😢). I was wondering where the nearest bus stop was and felt it would be easy to just keep going and accidentally add another 3 or 4 miles before Granton Square (and a bus stop) appeared. I suddenly had had plenty and really wanted to flip open a communicator and get Scotty to beam me up.

This redshank was a welcome distraction. The coast along the prom is pretty uninspiring and there was a distinct lack of waders. A few gulls but nothing interesting. Then this redshank which was fishing about in the shallows. I crept down the beach and mostly hid behind a rock. It wasn't very close but the 400mm took me quite a bit closer. I realised how pathetic I was being when a dogwalker came along the beach halfway between me and the wader and it didn't flinch. So I got a bit more forward and took more shots of it catching a crab which fought bravely but was eventually dispatched and swallowed.

Further along the prom I threw in the towel and headed up Marine Drive praying I could catch a bus somewhere about Muirhouse Parkway rather than walk all the way home. I just don't know this part of town well, despite being raised two miles South of here. I began to wonder what I was doing walking up this long stretch of ghost-town road, miles from bus routes and among a weird mix of caravan parks and delapidated mansions. 

mobile phone photo
(note sign bottom right)

However luck was about to be a lady. I mean a dragonfly. I had been under the impression the dragonfly season ended several weeks ago. The sun was making Muirhouse Mansion look particularly handsome and it was too near and large to contain within a frame using the 400mm lens. I was considering either taking a pic with my mobile phone, which was in my backpack or changing lens (also in my backpack) or just not bothering, and continuing up the desolate pavement in a glum mood. However I saw something flying towards the road from the building that looked too big to be a butterfly and too small to be a bird. My brain flicked through the card index options and came up with dragonfly, despite realising that that was very unlikely. Then, to my growing excitement, it landed on the awful perspex sign. 

Migrant Hawker

It was one of those dreamlike episodes where you realise you have died or fallen asleep (that again!) and are now just having an out-of-body experience or fever dream. Nevertheless (and just in case) I took it seriously enough to approach with extreme caution. Nobody would believe this without photographic evidence. The 400mm lens meant I could stand some distance away and get close-ups. I recognised the beast as a Migrant Hawker, being blue and similar to a common hawker (if smaller) but with the yellow golf tee between its wings. I expected it to be well past its sell-by-date and looking ragged, but it appeared in very good condition with perfect wings. Maybe moving slightly less confidently due to the cool temperature of the day, it flew as if slightly dazed. I got plenty pics of it close up before it took off again. I tried to get it in flight as it did a couple of circuits before flying up into an oak tree next door. I was very delighted to have come past at exactly the right moment and thanked profusely whatever spirit guide had coaxed me up this road to nowhere. It made up for a day largely lacking in exotic wildlife. I perked up considerably. Couldn't have been happier if I'd found a £20 note!

I predict Migrant Hawkers will be widespread in the Lothians in the next few years. I was first aware of them just over a year ago when Richard flagged them up behind Aberlady. This year I have seen them turn up in several places and in decent numbers. They have, according to BritishDragonflies.org, increased (their) range dramatically Northwards in recent decades.

I am really pleased about this as I like them a lot: for the colour changes as they mature, as well as being very obliging, for a Hawker, in that they land regularly to have their picture taken. (A huge improvement over Common Hawkers who seem to go all day without stopping.) They also seem to appear late on in the season when everything else has disappeared. I saw another one a couple of days after this one, in Warriston. First ever sighting there, which led me to make the prediction they are turning up everywhere, or will be soon. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the Warriston one, but it flew by close enough to get a 90% certain ID. 

this image is actually inverted to show
the insect from a more comprehensible angle

I think it was feeling the cold and blowing on its hands

up into an oak tree

another speckled wood also in that same oak tree

I began to re-evaluate the day and looked around for more subjects to photograph. There were curlews in a playing field probing the rich turf for worms. I think the sun is bouncing off spiderwebs in the grass. And once on Muirhouse Parkway I saw a couple of oyster catchers with muddy beaks doing likewise on a patch of green. They saw me approaching in a straight line and wandered round the far side, comically running at a good clip rather than waste wingpower to escape. I got a couple of shots with the 400mm, close enough to see those mad red eyes. Just as I was doing that I could hear the chop of a small toy helicopter in the air far above. And then a hefty motorbike roar as it did a wheelie down the Parkway. I got the helicopter but missed the motorbike in action before it dropped to both wheels to avoid ramming the car ahead. There may have been a lot of gentrification and rebuilding in Muirhouse but there are still clearly a few mentals about. 

toy helicopter

mental biker
and here comes my bus - good timing!

I took some photos out the top front bus window. There is lots of new building going on between Muirhouse and Granton and all of it looked great, and very different from the dingy flats not long demolished. Maybe it was the sunshine making it look all very European but it appeared to be a vast improvement on what was pretty low quality housing before. I don't know if the same community will move back in or if proximity to the city centre will price them out of the area. I do know the house prices in EH4 have increased massively since I was a kid growing up here. I enjoyed the slow bus ride through sunny Granton, along Great Junkie Street and then up Leith Walk. A really fine day out.

6.5miles in 4hrs