grayling hunt

 

10-08-26. A bright day but no outstanding items on the must-see wish-list. Not great enough weather to inspire a big day out so I kept it local and jogged up to Holyrood, which I realised I'd been neglecting for a while. Hadn't been there since the last big fire, below the crags opposite Dumbiedykes.

extensive damage below the Cat's Nick, however...

this bit of the stone trap, previously rich for NBAs and Common Blues
directly under the Cat's Nick seems to have survived, or been spared the worst

I was greatly saddened by the worst of the damage, and the fact it could have been so easily avoided. I presume it was started from a careless cigarette or disposable BBQ or some sort of human foolishness. However it could have been worse. And happily the extent was controlled and extinguished before it consumed the whole park. The previous scorched area up Crow Hill above Duddingston seems to be recovering well from the blaze on 10th August last year. Fingers crossed the low brainpower public have a think to themselves and don't take BBQs or smoke near the place while it is bone dry. Although I think we are now far enough away from that danger, having had a few rainy days lately.

 Unda's Bush and NBA corner (the best areas I found this year for NBAs
and Common Blues) were sadly absolute toast. This is a major NBA site lost.

Now there's a thing: do you pronounce the B in Dumbiedykes. A.I. - always 100% reliable, trustworthy and objective (!), says no you don't. But I heard of someone who lived there pronouncing it with the B. I suspect A.I. (going against form) is correct in this case...

The correct local pronunciation is "Dum-ee-dykes". Dropping the "B" is one of the ultimate linguistic litmus tests for Edinburgh locals; pronouncing it with a hard "B" immediately marks you out as a tourist or non-native.

Why is the "B" Silent?

• Historical Origins: The area is named after Thomas Braidwood’s pioneering Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, which was established there around 1764. Just as the "b" is silent in the word "dumb," it remains completely silent in the name of the district. 
• The Written "B": The spelling with a "b" became widely popularised after Sir Walter Scott used the name for a character (the Laird of Dumbiedykes) in his famous 1818 novel, The Heart of Midlothian. Before that, it was often spelled phonetically as Dummiedykes.

The first grayling site was up at the Commie Pool end of the Radical Road, nicknamed the McIntosh ridge after Mairi had noticed a small clan of graylings lived there (on less windy days.) On the back side of Salisbury Crags looking down into Hunter's Bog. 

I couldn't find many butterflies on the ridge itself although one or two flew off at great speed (maybe grayling, maybe meadow brown) while I paid more attention to my feet on the steep ground. I saw a painted lady fly onto the buddleia bush at the bottom end and when I went to investigate, found this grayling nectaring there as well. 

lots of painted ladies about recently so this one was 
less of a catch than the grayling

grayling (centre) sat on rough ground
showing them to be masters of camouflage

That was the first species seen from today's wish list. I now went in search of the second: humming-bird hawk-moths, to Samson's Ribs, just below where that ugly tall green fence has been installed along the low road (above the Innocent Railway) stopping cars from travelling through the park to Duddingston.

Near the Commie Pool roundabout, while examining the thistles there (no butterflies) I bumped into this forlorn juvenile herring gull. It looked as if it had recently been abandoned (weaned) by loving parents, to look after itself. And wasn't sure how to. I threw it some seeds and nuts and it scurried over but didn't seem to understand how to peck them off the ground. Presumably having had parents poke food into it until now. Eventually hunger would motivate it. I took some slo-mo video of it trying to work out how to get on in the world. At least it was a very well behaved model and stood quietly a couple of metres away. The footage was so engaging I combined it with more slo-mo footage of a small copper I was to see later in the day to make a shoegaze pop music video. A bit of art, because after all, we are in the art capital of festival-land.

dreams of flying
(the festival is not the only arts event happening in town!)

soundtrack: Shout! by Renee & Jeremy

I wasn't quite sure what to do with these two clips of video and had noticed this cover version track which I instantly liked, so after a bit of consideration, worked it into the above. Brace yourself for a minimal, mindful 3minute palate cleanser with soulful music.  

No hummers along at Samson's Ribs. They come and go and I couldn't be bothered to wait for one to turn up, although I likely spent 30mins photographing a grayling. It had wing damage but was probably the least worn I was going to get today so I followed it flying from valerian to valerian flower and got a couple of pre-burst open wing shots. These used to be a rare treat before the camera evolved a mode that allows you to take photos a second before you press the shutter release fully.

Now it is much easier (if you have such a set up) although you still have to get a bit lucky with anticipating flight direction and depth of field while keeping the shutterspeed super-high to freeze the action. These were between 1/4000 of a second and 1/8000. 

A very brief visit from this brand new Painted Lady which stopped only momentarily before heading off in a great rush to find a partner.

I could have waited around a bit longer to see if any hummers turned up but I was imagining large clouds of butterflies atop Crow Hill. Last visit, there were loads of admirals, small torts and painted ladies so I assumed they would still be there and have been joined by walls and graylings and the place would be buzzing. 

view of the crags from halfway up Crow Hill

these yellow structures from the next offshore windfarm look small...

until the cropped in image shows a tiny truck between the 
red brick harbour building and half pipes

some lovely coloured heathers on the hill

a distant NB Law

and Bass Rock

The top of Crow Hill was a total disappointment. For reasons unknown there wasn't one butterfly. I had a good scout about in case they were just having fun and all hiding, before showing themselves in an hilarious prank. But no. I could not find a single specimen, despite tip-toeing through the charcoalled gorse where there had been loads flying last visit as it gave shelter from the same westerly as was blowing today, only less so. I was very surprised. Also no sign of wheatears or indeed anything to point the camera at other than (godforbid) young couples lying on the grass waiting for me to leave so they could continue to finger each other. I left promptly.

exactly a year on to the day from the previous fire this has plenty of new growth

the gorse remains are dead but there is plenty growth in the rich soil

previously blocked by extensive gorse

I descended towards Whinny Hill. I had already passed a couple of small coppers. Although I took photos they were in poor shape. But I continued to check all the flowering yarrow and similar umbellifers for coppers and hovers. This paid off, just before Whinny Hill I spotted a small copper in excellent condition. I took a couple of long shots with the telephoto then realising I was getting to within a few metres without chasing it off, I retreated a bit, changed lens to the macro, and prepared to approach for some proper close ups.

I didn't put my backpack back on but left it down the hill. I then lay down so's not to present a tall predatory silhouette and slithered up the hill like a snake on my belly to get within about 6 inches of the very trusting copper. While I still had the long lens on it had flown off a couple of times but would return to the yarrow or grass nearby. It was reluctant to leave the area which was what made me bother to swap lenses.

the best of the long lens before switching to the macro and moving in close

f/10
vs f/3.5 (below)

f/3.5 blurs out the background but loses some butterfly focus

the optimum might be halfway

this would have been inches away from the butterfly
(I had possibly stopped breathing at this point)

cropped in

small copper video clips
soundtrack: Wandering I by Eydis Evensen

Very happy with that encounter and to get some decent photos of a good looking specimen I could now retire home. Feeling a bit more optimistic I thought I'd drop down past Dunsapie and hit the boundary wall. I can't remember if Richard had seen whiteletter hairstreaks there this year or not but there might be commas and the like near that buddleia. It was a less direct route but I was feeling lucky. However apart from distant sightings of a comma and a couple of holly blues, none of which posed close enough for blog quality photos, there was nothing worth the extra mileage.

At some point (I am struggling to remember where) I came across this rather scruffy young male pheasant. He might have lost some tail feathers to the local dogs, and was not even pretending to be remotely wild or self sufficient. When it was made clear I had a bag of seeds and nuts he was right over and eating out my hand. He was less than prime condition and the sun wasn't really shining but it is a testament to the beauty of their plumage that I still got some colourful photos.

For a change the problem was not being able to get close enough, but far enough back from the bird to get photos. (I still had the macro lens on but had to step back after shooting the first video clip (below) to get the whole bird in shot.) They come across as really daft birds and not great for the environment (allegedly eating snakes and defenceless reptiles)(I somehow doubt those hunting skills and suspect this might be just bad PR) but I can't help but enjoy a friendly encounter like this.

pheasant video

who's a pretty boy?

As usual the best bits were not what I went out looking for, but great to see so much on a day of mixed weather. I came home with far too many photos (1100+) and now that I have blogged this I can take them off the hard drive before I go out on the next adventure and fill it up again.

7.4miles in 4hrs38
newly burnt area shown only as approximate on west of hill