magnificent monday

 

A long day out on 16-06-25 but an excellent one. I caught the 09.39 train to Longniddry and started run/walking East just before 10am. It was quite breezy but warm enough to have the butterflies up and about. First stop was just the other side of Bents number 3 car park where I had seen blues before. I only managed to find one but that was sufficient to kick start the day. 

lots of hovers about

It was great to see the wildflowers where the path meets the beach. The viper's bugloss (tall plumes of blue) were great for attracting pollinators.

small tort on the beach by the sea rocket

mobile cafe and entrance tickets here

The first major exploration today was Gosford House. I realised I hadn't been through the estate in ages and there are large ponds that attract dragonflies. We are just coming into the dragonfly season. They are (in appearance) behind the butterflies with mostly only four-spotted chasers out - and of course damselflies. The main shop was closed (being Monday) but a charming cafe/van was parked nearby and the couple working in it selling coffees and snacks were prepared to sell either a day pass for £1 or an annual pass for £20. The annual passes used to be £5 so it was a shock to my skinflint heart, but I had decided to make this a regular haunt and frankly it is an amazing venue, so just got an annual pass. I doubt I'll be through another 20 times but you never know. Also it allows me to enter by the monumental gate near Longniddry and cut through the grounds next visit, which was just 3 days later. Not that anyone has ever checked me for carrying a valid pass in years of going there.

There has been much talk of the red admiral invasion of late. Although there has been good numbers seen by myself I have not come across plague numbers reported elsewhere. Instead just regular sightings and a good sprinkling up and down the trails on many bramble flowers and maybe a handful round likely flowering shrubs. I have not become bored with them, and stopped to photograph this splendid specimen which was moving between bramble and rhododendron flowers.

head dive into rhodie bloom

I thought I knew my way around the grounds pretty well but took one trail too early heading back towards Longniddry. I ended up running the Southern perimeter to beyond the big house. I had to ask a dogwalker was this the way towards the big house and they confirmed it. I was pleased the estate isn't over subscribed by dogwalkers. There is, after all, plenty in the way of local beaches where they can let mutts off the lead. The rules around Gosford are dogs should be under strict control. Some are fairly flexible with interpreting this rule, although as I say, the place isn't spoiled with too many dogwalkers.

as much as I can get in using my camera with zoom lens

I eventually found the big house. It is properly impressive. It is so large that I can't stand far enough back and get it all in shot with the long lens on. So you'll have to settle for a mobile phone pic. By the time the photos have travelled through the cloud, a cloud, some clouds to my PC they look a bit sickly and have lost the freshness they have in my iPhone, iPad, iball. 

It is generous of the owners to allow the oiks entry to their spectacular estate. There are signs asking that you respect the owners and don't dirty the windows rubbing your noses on the glass to see inside, stuff to that effect. Not sure if I owned a pad like this I'd want the great unwashed letting their dogs shit in my garden. Actually I can't imagine owning a house like this. The maintenance bill must be eyewatering, and how can anyone be bothered to keep all the windows painted and all the rooms dusted. You'd need a huge staff working round the clock, otherwise it'd all crumble into ruins. There are many examples of large piles in the countryside that have deteriorated into ruins because of lack of maintenance funds, but also they usually have listed building status so you can't knock them down and start again. I'm quite glad of the lack of a house like this to look after as I barely manage a small flat in Leith. Out too often taking photos of this sort of thing. Phew, near miss!

some outhouses showing signs of deterioration

From the big house I was able to orientate myself to the ponds which I knew were nearby. I had been chatting to an estate manager who was saying they got dragonflies which was what brought me here. He had also said how much he hated the visitors especially families with screaming kids and how that ruined the chance of seeing any wildlife. While I harbour no great fondness for other peoples' screaming kids I am reluctant to mention this, because it's not polite. That said it was great that I passed only a handful of other visitors during the two hours I was there. Weekends are no doubt busier.

azure damselflies

Pondside there were the expected damselflies. (As above.) Also four-spotted chasers which I seem to have forgotten to photo on this occasion. I may have been distracted by something larger at the end of the pond. I assumed a common hawker, the standard large blue/black dragonfly of Saltoun etc which appear around now I think. However when I got home and scrutinsed the pics it turned out to be an emperor. Supposedly common-ish around East Lothian according to iRecord I was pretty sure this was the first time I had ever taken a half-decent photo of one in the UK. I have had several close encounters in Tenerife. I was delighted although if I had known it was an emperor I might have taken more interest. It was zooming back and forth around the pond and as far I could see not landing. When I returned on a second lap it had left the vacinity. (The sun had gone behind clouds.)

green thorax and light blue abdomen patterns says Emperor
the largest UK dragonfly

I remembered the lily pond from previous trips. I always feel there should be more dragonfly business going on here but to date all the good stuff goes on at the higher larger ponds. (ie 2 male bandies appearing briefly and without staying power a few years back.)

a gloomy mobile phone pic - it was more pleasant than this!

common blue

moorhen - just light enough to walk over the lily pads

playing with reflections

pair of common blue damselflies - love the green colour of the female

the wheel of life

pondside orchid

I inadvertently got onto the central island of the ponds. There were a few dozing birds and this heron who gave me a look suggesting my presence was not required. I tried to leave quietly and without a fight. But not before taking a close up of these flowers which were all over a pondside tree making a tremendous display. I'll google what the brand of tree was, in a second. It took a while to get far enough away from said tree to actually get it all in the frame.

Cornus kousa var. chinesis - Chinese dogwood - spectacular

greylag eyeing me up

I don't mean to cast aspersions but these greylag goslings are not going through a cute stage. I lured the whole gang over with bribes. You know that H C Anderson tale, The Ugly Duckling? It would have been far more apt to have a greylag chick rather than a cygnet hatch in the wrong nest. Never seen a particularly ugly baby swan. But these guys were not pretty. At least they will grow into more handsome adults.

the Chinese dogwood from a distance - apparently it will produce
fleshy deep pink strawberry like fruit and then go a brilliant colour in Autumn!

boathouse

mallard and chick

did not get that nose from his mother!

Wemyss Mausoleum for 7th Earl (note yellow flowers climbing stepped roof)
who was a grand master mason hence pyramid and masonic refs

I could not be bothered to go round and take photos of the mausoleum from the front but there is stuff on my previous blog linked here which was also the occasion of finding banded demoiselles (5 years ago in September.)

plenty speckled woods near the trees

getting towards the end of large skipper season

male failing to impress a female

doing the hoochie coochie

on the road out of Gosford - a millipede

roses at Aberlady memorial

RA at Aberlady
stopped off to pick up a sandwich at Margiotta's

I decided to go to Aberlady NNR via Postman's Walk. I was greeted by the first Burnet moths of the season - always good value as they are rely on poison to keep predators at bay and so don't have to fly off readily. 

some fresh speckled woods about too

being assessed from quite a distance

again more RA presence without being inundated

the long range forecast

large skips and hovers

this one came out wonky

some fresher than others

nice to see some fresh small tort action

While I was taking photos I got chatting to a passing dogwalker. He was also superkeen on wildlife - butterflies and dragonflies. And since he lived locally had more of an idea about a few of the species around Postman's. Of particular interest was his info on Holly Blues, not one of which I saw this year at this site. He said they did appear, but in very small numbers and very early - perhaps before any of the butterfly community were out looking for them. They also appeared in his garden locally.

I was pleased to hear this, as I was busy constructing a story about them leaving this site because their mortal enemies the parasitic wasps had caught up with them. Perhaps that is partly the story and accounts for reduced numbers but also maybe the whole story is less grim than records suggest. I look forward with interest to July and the second brood Holly Blues. Fingers crossed.

heron on Marl Loch

common blue

In Aberlady reserve I had a wander over towards the area I used to visit which I called the butterfly bush. It was a large clump of sea buckthorn and assorted shrubs, thistles and nettles that acted as a home base, a safe haven for peacocks, admirals, commas, small torts, blues and coppers and loads of insects until 8 years ago. If there were no butterflies about elsewhere, this corner of the savannah could always be relied upon. Until the ranger John Harrison organised an execution partly of well-meaning do-gooders to chop down and burn the sea buckthorn in a misguided attempt to contain its spread. Blog here. October 2017. A sad day indeed.

Just out of curiousity eight years later I returned to the scene of the crime. I thought maybe the butterflies might have regrouped and returned as well, but so far there are no signs of the previous muiltitudes that thrived here. Notably there are also no signs of the sea buckthorn rapidly spreading out of control, here or anywhere else. I can't imagine what set off John Harrison to do such an act of misguided vandalism but I am happy to report I haven't seen him do likewise since. Although the damage was well and truly done back then and has not recovered in this spot. No doubt the insects not burned or trampled have just moved on but it reminds me of the fragility of certain special areas and that it only takes a small action of misguided stupidity to really reduce a special place to an absolutely ordinary place. 

There were also a couple of deer near to where I was wandering. This one saw me and moved off at walking pace. I noticed another on the other side of the shrubs, and that it hadn't noticed me. Recently there have been a couple of incidents where I have got really close to deer without them seeing me. While I like to imagine it is my stealthy fieldcraft and ninja skills it is more likely just young animals away from their parents for the first time and them being a bit careless and forgetting to keep an eye out for the paparazzi. 

This one totally failed to spot me and I got really quite close. Not reach-out-and-touch close, but maybe less than 7m. First photo and it was unaware of my being there. I didn't want to freak it out so quietly said hello while standing still. It took one look and had bounded off even before it had got its head back round front-facing. I presume a dozy youngster. After a short sprint it stopped and checked I wasn't following. Others have shown less concern and just jogged off. It is great to see such large animals roaming about the place in decent numbers. It probably helps that dogs are discouraged from going on the reserve.

WTF!!!
the nano-second before it took off rapidly

lots of stonechats about

willow warbler (or chiffchaff)

juv stonechat

I was very pleased to get so close to this family of stonechats. The dad was being kept busy by at least two offspring who would sit and wait for his return with a caterpillar or bug. They were all capable fliers but the youngsters had more curiosity than fear and would happily sit and watch me as I approached without flying off as long as I was slow moving. 

juv stonechat being fed by adult male

stonechat video

great to see cinnabar caterpillars on ragwort
if not in the numbers you used to see a few years back

small heath
a few about but nearly all behaving badly

I have heard reports of Painted Ladies arriving in the same migration along with red admirals. Initially I only saw a couple of faded PLs but more recently have been seeing better specimens. This one was in the dunes immediately before Aberlady beach and looked a bit fresher. It took a while to get close enough for photos.

trypophobics beware

A thing I heard about only recently. Trypophobia: an aversion to the sight of repetitive patterns or clusters of small holes. Apparently hasn't been around for long enough to be clinically recognised and possibly one of these things non-sufferers might feel tempted to dismiss as a first world problem. Possibly not potentially fatal, possibly not helped by saying pull your socks up either. Like so much of life.

Next up Aberlady beach. I saw what was maybe a pied wagtail on the sand. As I began to walk over towards it I realised there were a number of small birds, and none of them wagtails. Looked like ringed plovers and sanderlings, but not quite. The sanderlings had more red-brown around them and looked like red-necked stints. Or dunlin. I had difficulty telling, as whenever I got close they flew off. After a bit of googling I am leaning towards sanderlings in Summer plumage which is warmer (more rufous!) than Winter colours. If not, let me know. I enjoyed seeing them flying as a small flock.

a mix of 2 similar species

When they landed they did the oddest thing. As if prearranged, they all went deadly still. These small birds are normally hyperactive so it was like a weird prank for them all to go motionless for a short while. I reckoned this was either a really cunning way to lose the eye of a predator - their backs are the absolute match for the colour of sand they were on and from a distance only their movement gave them away. Or that they did the statue thing to observe worms or other potential foodstuffs move beneath the sand before pouncing. I favour the former theory by 100%. It was so bizarro I had to video it. It happened immediately on landing, as if the lead one shouted 3, 2, 1 FREEZE! The plovers were more efficient at the business of statues as the sanderlings would inevitably break first and start moving about again while the plovers were still largely motionless. 

sanderling and ringed plover

very cropped photo of sanderling in Summer plumage I think
oh and missing a foot

video of birds

I shot some video as stills do not do the statue game justice. First clip they are standing still; second, some movement; third a sanderling breaks ranks and behaves normally, sprinting across the beach; fourth clip, more statues.

a pink variety of bugloss

Somewhere along the way I realised it may not be a good idea to push onto North Berwick, the original plan. I had dawdled at too many places along the way and was not inclined to pick up the pace. The weather wasn't ideal and I doubted there woud be anything much more along the way. I could call it at Gullane and catch a bus home from there. This seemed a better plan, and to celebrate it I decided to check out the Millennium Cairn area and the rocky bit next to it, where we found walls earlier in the year. 

It was a good call. There were a couple of sparring admirals and a couple of painted ladies. A bit worn but still capable of a great turn of speed when noised up by a frisky red admiral. At one point the excitable RA flew past me and seeing the Painted Lady chased it at great speed until it had a chance to turn 180 degrees and chase at even greater speed the RA, which was so flummoxed it nearly hit me between the eyes, parting my hair as it swerved past. They seemed to have established small territories which they kept returning to, and seeing off intruders flying into their airspace. 

It was all quite intoxicating to watch and the red admiral was so consistent in coming back to the same spot I put out my hand nearby, and after a couple of circuits checking it out, it landed. I was thrilled and also a bit disappointed not to be able to record such an honour. I had the long lens on which has too long a minimum focal distance to photograph anything in my hand. The RA sat taking in the view for a while before taking off after a passing burnet moth or hoverfly. In case it returned I hastily shucked off my backpack, got my mobile phone out and had it at the ready in case...

my new friend came back for another chat

a second painted lady

There were also a few burnet moths about. Compared to their butterfly cousins they are so obliging and happy to continue going about the flowers with a lens in their face, that I got out the macro lens to take some close-ups. 

While I had the macro lens on, the RA would land close by. It was quite tricky approaching as the camera and lens has to be much closer to get similar shots and the butterfly was too frisky for that.

six-spot burnet moth preening

a more forgiving subject

yellow shell

And that marked the end of the day. A properly brilliant day out with lots of jollies which inspired another variation on this theme three days hence.

I hiked over to the main road and caught the next bus home. Unlike the trains they do not always keep to the published timetable. I think I fell asleep listening to an audiobook on the drive back into Edinburgh. Happy days!

13miles in 7hrs24m - a long day out
red = run, blue = walk