slower is better

 

13-07-25 A quick trip to Warriston, late in the day. 3.30pm to 5.30pm. 

comma

gvw

This was probably one of those days when the sun only appears after lunch. I haven't been along to Warriston much recently and the undergrowth is taking over. Good news for the butterflies although it can be a jaggy process to get near enough for photos. 

speckled wood

Nice to see many commas at the In Loving section. I had to take secateurs along and snip quite a lot of brambles and nettles to make a thin entry path. Difficult to say exactly how many commas were on the go. One or two were perched on the higher plants but then another would fly past and a chase would ensue. Sometimes a train of 3 or 4 commas would fly up into the sky. I failed to get anything other than pretty bad photos of them turning tight circles and climbing above the trees. Great to see so many. I'm fairly sure there haven't always been as many here. I have been aware of the commas in this area for a few years now and this year has definitely seen the most turning up. Also there is a regular turnaround. I take note of wingpatterns and distinctive notches and the same individual isn't always in attendance. 

three commas chase each other into the sky
unfortunately, horribly out of focus

common froghopper

I went through the tunnel to check for wildlife in the riverside area. While standing near the stream a pair of bullfinches flew down to feed on the seedheads of plants really close to where I was standing. I suspect the fewer amount of dogwalkers and public in general has given the birds far more freedom to come and go as they please. This is compensation for having to jog an extra half mile or so to the only gate into the place. The same reason the cemetery is far quieter. No bad thing for those of us who go along to take photographs of the wildlife.

The bullfinches then flew over to the stream to have a bit of a splash about. It was tricky to take their photos as the light was pretty rubbish. As the sun sinks below the trees it leaves the stream in a stygian gloom. I shot some slow motion video as I thought the droplets of water would work well in slo-mo. This was great idea - the video worked better than stills - and when a juvenile robin (hasn't even got its traditional red breast yet) turned up as well I took some slo-mo video of that too.

I deliberately edited both videos down to around a minute. (The slo-mo mode produces minutes of footage for what is only a few seconds of shooting.) Any longer (without reducing the quality) and they'd be over 100mb in size and I'd have to put them on youTube, then embed them here. If they are under 100mb I can post them directly to facebook and blogger. The bullfinch video came out at 97mb first attempt. Lucky, lucky! I suspect most folk on social media prefer a brief video to a half hour documentary.

juv robin

2 males and a female bullfinch
they are really quite social little creatures

the chaffinches turned up too

a wren through the way

this blackbird was gasping in the late afternoon heat

the crows have a new offspring

stock dove

time to go home for dinner

bullfinch bathtime

juv robin having a splash