Tentsmuir!

14-06-26 I knew the Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries were out and about thanks to a couple of sightings posted on the ESB fb group. I was reluctant to head to Tentsmuir too soon but only had a couple of opportunities before I flew off to Greece on the 17th. The best weather window seemed to be on Sunday 14th so I packed my pannier bags with sandwiches, juice and camera and headed to Waverley to put it all on the early train to Leuchars. 

It is never a relaxing or comfortable thing to put your bike on a train in Scotland. I had booked ahead for the journey North but it was not possible to book anything for the return so was just playing it by ear and if necessary might cycle much of the 60miles home after a long day out. But fully intended not to, obviously. The way up was busy - sharing the train with 3 other cyclists, and all our bikes crammed into the poorly designed spaces. However I managed, and was very glad I had 2 wheels to cover the 20+ miles required of the day.

I had taken a pretend padlock wire which I'd bought a year or 2 back to act as a visual dissausion. You could practically open it with harsh words or a hard stare: it was really just a pretend protection to discourage the casual opportunist while I was standing 300 yards away, camera pointed at butterflies in a swamp taking photos. And less than a quarter of the weight of my real padlock.

I was pleased to see the fritillaries were indeed here. Not in large numbers to start with as the sun was covered with a thick layer of cloud. This was not in agreement with the forecast but there were still a couple of hardy SPBFs around the boardwalk so I padlocked the bike and got to work.

Like last year the swamp was just about dry enough to allow a person to lie down on the spongy ground without getting a soaking. I had dowsed myself in non-deet midgy/tick deterent although a few of the latter got past the barrier. And a few mosquitos or similar gave me itchy red lumps to take to Greece.

abandoned bike beside the swamp boardwalk

small copper

undersides particularly pretty

hand for scale

The weather was so cold and drab that this one was happy to sit on my warm hand for a few photos. I started with the macro lens, as I'd had the best photos from it last year. The SPBFs are reasonably obliging as long as you approach slowly and don't make sudden movements.

Like the common blue of my last blog, when the sun went even further behind the clouds, this champion model allowed me to spend time removing all other greenery and grasses from in front, and then doing a series of closer and closer close-ups, until I was entirely eye-balling them. Nice to get that kind of detail although the photos would have been warmer and more cheerful with some sunshine. (There was plenty of that later, it just hadn't arrived early, as forecast.)

small magpie moth

marsh cinquefoil
a favourite with the SPBFs

they also like marsh thistles

There were a small number of speckled woods out,
- all looking remarkably fresh like they'd just emerged.

car park cafe

Normally I'd buy overpriced water here but I'd carried more than enough in my pannier bags. I'd put my reservoir in the freezer overnight and it stayed cool until about 5 o'clock and the train home.

As usual there were a few common blues on the way to Morton Lochs, just after Kinshaldy car park on the sandy coastal paths. No sign of dragonflies or DGFs yet - perhaps a bit early. As I got further North there were small tribes of male common blues hanging out together in 2s and 3s round favourite plants or on the windless sides of small rises (it was quite blowy.)

damaged one had a rest on my bicycle gloved hand

overseas painted lady having a beach holiday in Scotland

the wear and tear suggests this is no local

nicely marked blue

yellow dung flies on cow pat

one of several marvelous buildings around Tentsmuir

kept bumping into these rangers who were happy
to answer my questions about what species they had seen

painted lady on viper's bugloss near the pavilion

ragged small white on ragged robin

a gang of four battling common blues
next to the pavilion - still one of my favourite buildings

another fresh speckled wood

From the pavilion I headed over to Morton Lochs. There were no DGFs at the vipers bugloss beside the pavilion which was disappointing. However what I saw at Morton's more than made up. In fact the day improved dramatically and it wasn't that bad to start with. As I cycled across the gravel trails the sun appeared and pretty much stayed at least partially out the rest of the day. I had taken bird food with me, seeds and nuts, to put out at the squirrel hide.

I was glad I did as there was none there, and notices saying not to raid the squirrel boxes for seeds/nuts. I put out a decent amount on the logs in front of the hide and thought if nothing turns up I'll go check the dragonfly ditch and give the birds and squirrels a chance to find the food. If they are even interested. BTW I did check for any don't feed the birds signs around the place as there is a suggestion from the RSPB that we don't feed birds during the Summer to try to combat Trichomonosis in the finches.

I was very happy to see no such warnings. It is a more serious business down South where chaffinches are disappearing at an alarming rate, but we don't seem to be suffering as much (if at all) up here that I have noticed. I really enjoyed feeding the birds - nearly as much as they did. Everyone would have been disappointed had there been some arbitrary rules saying no feeding. If covid taught us anything, it taught us that the words coming down from on high were only as credible as the people saying them. 😬

I was very pleased there was nobody else in the hide - a sunny Sunday and I had the place to myself! I was about to head to the dragonflies when a jay made an advance swoop over the food I'd put out. Holy shit that was unexpected! I checked my watch and I'd only been there 3.5 minutes! Usually jays are super-flighty and let the other garden birds arrive in droves before they cautiously approach. This one may have had a young family to feed - it was first to the food, ahead of the robins and chaffinches!

I was so excited I botched the first round of pics. I hoped it would return. It did! About once every ten minutes it appeared and posed perfectly for pictures and video as it scooped up as many peanuts as it could fit in a beak. A total joy! And just about 4 metres away from where I sat. 

I had though I should close the door but there wasn't one on the hide. Which gave the birds plenty light to see my form sat there so close. I guess they have just got used to people staying behind the wooden shed walls and that protruding cameras and watching humans will not try to grab or shoot those who come to the logs for food. I have had rewarding visits to Morton's before but this was the best by far. And that was before the woodpeckers and red squirrel turned up!

the peanuts went down best with the jay and squirrel

perfect pose!

great tit

I was delighted when the woodpeckers appeared. First just this female and again I wondered if she had youngsters to feed. Eventually 3 arrived but I was unable to tell youngsters from adults as they had lost their first plumage, indicative of juveniles. I later saw one of the woodpeckers feeding another suggesting they were related.

crop full of peanuts

I never saw from which direction this squirrel arrived but when it found the nuts it sat and gorged on them till it could hardly walk. I was intrigued it didn't bother with the nuts in the squirrel feeders hung on nearby trees but came over to feed on the ones I'd put out. I suppose novelty was the attraction. I doubt they were very fresh or tasty as they had come from the petfood dept. in Tesco's ages ago, and looked pretty dried up and unappealing. Not so to Sammy the squirrel who must have sat there for half and hour shovelling them down. I was sorry he didn't hold his tail up behind him as the greys do and only got a tail shot later when he moved about. If he is a he. I'm not sure you can tell genders apart. Well, I can't! Love those tufty ears though! Super-cute!

dunnock

chaffinch

robin

tail shot!

The jay gave me an old fashioned look as if to say hey we're running low on those tasty peanuts if you'd like to sort that out? I snuck out and put some more on the logs between his/her visits. It returned three or four times over the hour I was there (seemed like 20mins!) and I got some quality shots/footage once I calmed down.

blackbird did that flopping and gasping thing
they like to do in the heat

more tail shot

wood pigeons

female chaffinch

eyeballing a woodpecker

The woodpeckers would put a peanut in a hole in the stump and bash it to a pulp. 

wtf? 😄

I heard a couple of thumps on the hide roof and a bit of quacking. I knew it would be the mallards. In fact I was surprised it had taken them an hour to arrive. They are very much local characters and not to everyone's liking as they will sit on the logs and consume all traces of food. I thought it was about time to head off and this marked it nicely. I wondered if I had the energy to retrace my tracks back to the boardwalks and get some fritillary pics in sunshine. 

I checked out the railway hide or at least the long aisle of wildflowers leading up to it. I bumped into another phtographer who had a Lumix bridge camera and was shooting blues. We chatted and he suggested there'd be SPBFs behind the path that goes left and round the watery bit just before the ramp to the hide. I had a quick look but saw heehaw and didn't fancy getting out the lightweight padlock to hobble my bike while I checked more extensively.

I saw lord snooty out for a constitutional

look at those colours!

He was bribe-able with some seeds
and came over very close while I took photos.

I was nearly tempted to go back into the hide when I went past on my way to the dragonfly ditch. I could see a woodpecker up on the tall log. There was plenty four-spotted chasers and damselflies in the ditch but I was getting tired. I checked the nearby ground for any sign of DGFs or SPBFs but nothing much except some rather lovely chimney sweeper moths - always good value, although not always happy to sit nicely for pics.

chimney sweeper moth

blue-tailed damselfly

four-spot chaser

last blue of the day on ragged robin

I got out the timetable I had written out the night before - there was a train at 5.something and that gave me just about enough time if I stomped on the pedals. (I opted not to revisit the boardwalk.) I was really quite tired (after an afternoon in scorchio heat) and wanted to get home with all the marvels on my SD card. (And I had a holiday in 3 days that required organisation, shopping and packing.) I went back to Leuchars on tarmac once I hit the road out of Kinshaldy car park, and surprised myself at the pace - 18mph on the flat. I got to the station with about 6 minutes to spare.

video clips from the day
soundtrack: Daffodil by Arbour

Happily there was space on the train for my bike. Two more cyclists got on at subsequent stations and our bikes nearly jammed the corridor. We really are an afterthought in terms of being catered for. A shame, as public transport is more eco-friendly than people using their cars. However, we eventually got into Waverley and I cycled home wearily. Another great day out at Tentsmuir (and Morton's Lochs), a favourite place for wildlife!

23.6 miles in 7hrs21m