baby / bathwater

 

25 & 26-04-26

A couple of days when not a lot made the headlines but a few decent images were taken which deserve to be posted rather than be binned. And we had some fun. And a New Camera arrived! So no point in throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Let's do it!

On the 25th April we went to Warriston. We drove there which is nearly unheard of. It was late in the day and the sun had just appeared. No time to waste - jump in the wee car and speed round there. On arrival we bumped into (not literally) Andrew and Unda - great timing! Lots of chat and catch up and nearly forgot to take any photos.

One of the topics of conversation was Mary's new camera! She had expressed an interest in getting something with animal or bird detection that could do slo-mo video. I immediately got on the case and and noticed that if you got high quality used kit from Wex (with a year's warranty) we could set her up with the same body I have (Lumix G9ii) but with a lighter 100~300mm lens. It is about half the weight of my 100~400mm and about a third of the price. It makes the whole thing less heavy and easier to carry about. A halfway house between her old bridge camera and my heavy weight job. If she got something too heavy it would put her off taking it out and having fun.

We also got a her a street lens (12~60mm) for scenery and wide shots. Our trip to Warriston was her road testing it for the first time. Being used it was a bit less expensive than new, and remarkably all came to less than the price of a Sony RX10 bridge camera. It also seemed a lot better condition than my camera which has had a lot of use over hundreds of trips during the last 2 and a half years. Mine still works perfectly btw and I'm very happy with the results. It will be interesting to see Mary's results. It takes a while to get used to a new camera especially one as complex at the G9 however Mary is keen to become familiar with it before we go on holiday in June. We have a special holiday booked in June. I'm not going to get over excited about it just yet until the Strait of Hormuz gets unblocked and the flights get fuelled up.

smaller, lighter package with nearly the same reach

First we went to where the blackcaps had been seen (setting up a nest perhaps). It was around a variegated holly tree which has since been associated with holly blues. It did seem to be on a corner rich with wildlife: a red admiral settled briefly and there was a comma as well as many speckleds on the surrounding shrubs. Various birds heard but no photos.

We all then went to comma corner as the In Loving section has become known. There were a couple of commas and assorted white fly-throughs. An orange tip posed nicely and then shut its wings for a snooze giving the chance of close-up shots. Even with the long lens on I was able to get the sort of detailed result you'd expect from the macro. (See below.)

hoverfly

fantastic detail from the long lens

speckled wood on blossom

many lovely things in the cemetery

an all-too-brief appearance of the blackcap (m)

26-04-26

angry deserted rabbit, Pilrig St.

Next day, Botanics on the menu. There were some people in period costumes although the one nearest us seemed to be dressed as a magician. Those aren't costume glasses and hat. Normally I'd ask what they were doing but they seemed too involved. I was amused by the woman who had an old camera and a mobile phone that wasn't correct to the era.

oops - not era appropriate

We had a pleasant enough constitutional but there just wasn't much in the way of wildlife, it was getting late and there wasn't much happeneing so we called it and went home.

LTT

bee on rhodies

on the way through St Marks we fed the stock dove
with the limp which seemed happy enough to see us
(which makes the crows very unhappy!)

holly hunter pt 1

 

24-04-26 Third day in a row out photo-ing lepidoptera.

Nothing to do with the diminutive but fiesty American actor who I really like, despite being in the The Piano, a properly terrible mills-and-boonsian bodice-ripper dressed as art. Every character in it is loathsome, a trait shared with Power of the Dog another Campion highly-rated but thoroughly unlikeable movie.

small tort on wallflowers

I just thought it fun to reference the actor while actually talking about Holly Blues an entirely different movie star I have been shooting since 2019 with much enthusiasm. We thought they had gone from their favoured location at Postman's Walk, Aberlady. Until Richard saw a stray one on his way back to his car after a session there. I can't remember if we saw none there last year (first brood) or just hardly any. But it had been considerably fewer than previously, despite them appearing in many new Scottish venues, and going North to Tayport and even Stonehaven.

male holly blue

When Mary suggested taking the car out for some exercise I quickly steered the destination towards Aberlady and E. Lothian as it was sunny and we might follow up Richard's good news. This was the case, with several HBs (all male) being seen along the North field perimeter of Postman's, though fewer in the field corner where we'd previously seen them. The males were scouring the ivy clad walls for females as were we, although they were not stopping much to have their pics taken and most went without even a record shot. We counted 5 males and 1 female although it was tricky to know we weren't counting the same male on more than one occasion.

peacock

songthrush

another male

this time on the trees at the corner

This time the garlic mustard was flowering and as a result
was being visited by many passing orange tips and whites. 

GVW

lots of hovers - syrphus spec.

lesser celandine

Mary in next field - glorious weather for a nice change

small tort

false oxlip? 

speckled wood

water tower

We walked to the other end of the second field and did a bit beyond. Pretty much to the driveway of Luffness House. There is a bit there usually good for commas, peacocks and various whites but nothing much to point the camera at today. I was beginning to feel a bit let down by the place (a previous favourite, so high standards are expected always!) when on the return journey we (Mary) came across this spectacular female Holly Blue. Like common blues I think the females are more high tariff as they are found less frequently than the males and have more interesting marking on wings. This was a highly marked individual and did not hang about for many photos. It made my day.

when I straightened up the angle of photo the wings went
slightly out of focus although body and antennae still sharpish - weird

We walked back into Aberlady (Margiottas) to pick up a sandwich and drink. On the way, there were 2 starlings sat just above eye level in a tree right on the pavement. So close it was hard to get a decent line on them without stepping out onto the busy road. I was disappointed to not have got more photos of better quality as they were very close and didn't fly away initially. I love the sheen on starlings and it was nearly ideal conditions to show this (ie sunny!) A little too much shadow falling over them though. Mary had left her camera in the car!

sand martins over Luffness quarry

After lunch we drove to Luffness Quarry as Richard had reported an early small copper there. We found what we thought was the same one and sure enough it was the only thing there. (Other than fly-through whites and OTs.) Later examination showed it wasn't the same one (having no blue tail spots.) It is surprisingly hard to find small coppers even when you know they are there.

coppery small copper

sand martins

legs for the offshore windfarm

Finally we parked up the top of Gullane's West side and had a rummage around for walls or admirals on the red stone of the boundary wall there and along at the Millennium Cairn. Absolutely nothing other than fine views up and down the Forth and a handsome wagtail!

sir william wagtail

Japanese cherry?

Nice day out. Thanks to Mary for driving!