warr babies

 

16-01-25 Another trip to Warriston via the Botanics. Feel free to skip past many similar photos to recent blogs; there's not much to do during these grey months except go feed the birds at the cemetery and if there's any light, take their photos. There is often enough to lift an otherwise mediocre day and it gets some steps done. And avoids the headlong plunge into the Winter Blues and the inevitable depression of living in a cold bleak country. So if there's a whiff of sunshine or bright skies I grab the camera and head outside. Sorry if I am repeating myself, I can refund in full anyone who feels this isn't value for money. 😄

The Botanics was pleasant but there was almost nothing to point the camera at. I had thought there might be a few more birds but the trees seemed empty. I had a swift look at the duck pond but no sight of any kingfishers. Same at the Chinese hillside pond. There were a couple of juvenile gulls and not much else. Before I headed to Warriston, I checked out the rock garden. It was almost warm enough for butterflies. Nice to bump into Ken for the first time this year who updated me on the insects drawn to the flowering gorse bush there.

Ken who I saw in the rock garden.

Nice to stand in the sunshine and take photos of three species of hoverfly and a worker bumble bee. I am not sure if this is very early in the year for such activity, but it felt like it. And was all there was. It was so exciting 😳 I even changed lens to the macro, although I mostly resisted climbing onto the raised border to get close enough to the insects. I thanked Ken for pointing me towards the insects and left with the promise that we'd text if either of us saw anything special. A butterfly did seem possible, and I have heard reports of there being some outliers spotted flying. Sadly it was a text free afternoon.

syrphus

worker bee
(note yellow pollen baskets or corbiculae)

a much smaller hoverfly

a larger hoverfly / drone fly

pine ladybird
(although some harlequins look similar)

I still had the macro lens on when I got to Warriston so I thought I'd trek round some gravestones in the North section above the crypts. I was cursing that I hadn't packed my flash, which helps illuminate the smaller creatures, although I could manage okay to photograph anything on the sunny sides of the monuments. I didn't find much in the way of unusual ladybirds but was trying to get some of the aphids and barkflies that are smaller and less easy to see. My eyes are so dim I only see the faintest difference in colour to the background stone and it's only when I put my eye to the vewfinder I can see if it's a piece of mud or birdshit or a microscopic insect. There is a certain fascination about this even though it doesn't always have the more obvious spectacle of a sparrowhawk or kingfisher. I can easily spend an hour lost in this macro world of tinies, chasing match-head small shadows across sunny planes of marble.

aphid

largest fly in the cemetery today

ichneumon

orange ladybirds

The orange ladybirds have had a better year than almost all the others. Perhaps because they thrived in the damp Spring and Summer while others suffered. They locate each other using pheremones. And are often found in huddles under overhangs, lips or grooves in the masonry where snow (or rain) won't accummulate on top of them.

another almost invisible tiny
Google lens says Psocoptera / Psocodea: barklice, booklice, barkflies

pegomya?

calliphora / blue bottle / blowfly

booklice

hoverfly
google lens say Melangyna

booklice

it is unclear if the singular is booklouse

this curious robin came so close I was able to take
 this photo with the macro lens

lacewing larva

probably another barkfly

Empoasca - leafhopper

cute passer by

always a pleasure to see the grey wagtail

So I returned to the stream at the tunnel. There's often a few birds there and I put out food to encourage more. I was thinking about installing a pole with a birdtable but don't want to overstep the line. There were gravestones nearby we used to use but they have been swallowed up by brambles and weeds. Today's most exotic species was this very lovely goldcrest, the UK's smallest bird. The males have orange in their yellow crest. And given a tiny amount of orange in his crest I suspect this one was a male. Although you can only see it in the last photo. (And in the linked video.) Maybe there was more than one? I had two encounters. The first while I was walking up the beside the stream to place food there and this one was already splashing about. I was really pleased to see it and quickly lifted the camera hoping my proximity wouldn't chase it away - I was within a couple of metres. They are beautiful tiny birds although have a downturned mouth that can make them look a bit grumpy!

A small group of long-tailed tits flew by. Again they were happy to hop about the branches right next to me and I managed to get better photos than usual. They rarely sit still and are constantly moving about looking for insects, so make challenging subjects. 

treecreeper, a regular resident

another regular is this wren, often near the tunnel

male bullfinch came really close for a look

This was the day when 6 stock doves
came to check out the bird food at the stream

they are more delicate and shy than the wood pigeons

great tit

grey wagtail

The second appearance of the goldcrest. It came over to where I was standing and hopped down for a splash about. It was the highlight of the day as they often hide in among the undergrowth or high up trees making photos nearly impossible, so this was a rare treat. It seemed unperturbed by my close company, although checked me out while hiding behind some greenery before venturing out into the water. I posted video of this other day so I'll not post again but you can see the youTube here.

chaffinch

blue tit, chaffinch, blackbird

goldcrest!