29-10-26. Another day when the forecast promised much and delivered only some. It could have been much worse and I did have fun and got to please myself (no work), outside, in glowing health, taking a run along beautiful East Lothian coastal trails. So how come I am complaining? I think the winter blues are creeping in.
I took the 10.39 train after a sprint up to Waverley and got off at Longniddry around 11am. Some blue skies, some hazy clouds, some chilly breeze. Thin gloves weather. There wasn't a target species as such although I anticipated a couple of end of season butterflies at the SOC before Aberlady. I had set off an hour later than usual to let the day warm up with this in mind. Butterflies, like myself, are not great early risers. I also anticipated Aberlady reserve being wall-to-wall birds. Huge flocks of geese and waders josting for position along the estuary and beach. Which didn't match the reality.
I failed to capture a small clan of 4 or 5 wagtails in the Bents car park
someone had taken the corner a little wide
I later thought (given the proximity to Halloween and all the spooky decorations)
that it would be fun to draw ghostly eyes and mouths on the deflated airbags
buzzard
When I arrived at Waterston House I was disappointed to see zero butterflies. Conditions were nearly perfect. This has happened before and if you wait around for a bit you are often rewarded. So I took photos of the lovely flowers and an occasional hoverfly while I waited on the butterflies. Which never materialised. I felt sure some would defo turn up at some point but had a number of places I was keen to get to so kept moving rather than spend longer here. I wanted to get to Gullane in time to check for fieldfares beyond the car park for one. And optimistically there could be a few redwings and if I got really lucky, the first waxwings of the season. As if.
marmalade hover
there are two v handsome crabapple trees both in full fruit
I was uncertain what the point of crabapple trees were. Having googled it I am not that much wiser; they seem to be used as rootstock and for ornamental purposes, more than for their fruit which is like very small apples or large cherries. Most varieties are edible but too woody or sour to eat raw. Better in jams and jellies.
sedum
French hydrangea
marmalade hover on French marigold
the usual suspects
Aberlady was in full Halloween mode
the decorations I liked most were these yarnbombed hanging baskets
they had followed through with this award
I should have taken more photos from a greater distance
but was distracted by this kittycat
which was nearly friendly but keeping a safe distance.
look at that explosion of whiskers!
I had been thinking about going straight to the bird reserve but instead (having had no butterfly luck at SOC) decided to divert to Postman's Walk. It was a good call although when I first turned up there were zero butterflies and just a yellow dung fly which seemed to be laughing at my wildlifing attempts. I quite like dung flies though not their habits.
I wondered if all the admirals (there had been 30 along here last visit) had taken cover from the wind in the ivied corridor path between fields. I went to check this theory and while standing there two black labs came barrelling along (and seeing me blocking their way) got very barky. I shouted as cheery a hello as I could muster and their owner got them to calm down and (for once) apologised for them.
I felt as a karmic response I'd now be gifted an admiral and sure enough one fluttered down from above and settled near me. I took a quick photo before it flew off and for a while I thought it was maybe going to be the only butterfly of the day. However as I progressed along the ivy patches I came across quite a few more - in groups of twos and threes, counting 10 eventually. Oddly not at the same ivy patches that were popular last visit. I'm guessing different flowers/fruit produce the desired nectar at different times.
While standing at the ivy this distant massive flock of birds flew by. Only when looked at closely back home could I make out that it seemed to be a mix of mostly lapwings with a few starlings or other smaller birds.
very cropped image
Back to the admirals which were now appearing in better numbers and some were very helpfully posing right beside me. Most were a bit battered as they had spent the weekend being blown about by the two named storms, Austen and Boelo. Imagine being a butterfly - pretty much a caterpillar with tissue paper wings - and having to find a dry spot out the wind for 48hrs of torrential rain and stormisery. Here were ten individuals up to the task and looking pretty decent all things considered. It was very cheering to photograph them.
two-fer
one of the more weathered ones
The woman with 2 black labs returned and I braced myself for more barky interaction. Maybe because they'd had their walk or maybe because I wasn't blocking their way, they were perfectly behaved this time and the woman stopped to ask was it butterflies I was looking for and which ones. It turned out she was the owner of the large white house on the corner, so I was able to apologise for the many times I have lurked outside pointing the camera towards her garden and windows - to take photos of small torts and peacocks on the purple wallflowers. She understood and spoke of several butterfly enthusiasts she had bumped into along Postman's. One of whom sounded like it had to be Abbie M. It was really fine to chat and I was glad I hadn't given her a salty or smartarse response when her dogs had been super aggressive earlier.
one last aging RA which looked like it had crash landed in this ivy
Onwards to Aberlday and across the bridge. Plenty duckies about including wigeon.
wigeon
crow
About the best bird today was this bullfinch in the buckthorn berries. I had been hoping for all sorts and always keep my eyes open, imagining encounters with owls (short or long eared, I'm not fussy) and marsh harriers and kites, despite them only ever appearing every decade or so. Disappointment is the more usual company and today was no exception.
When this guy went past on his electric cargo bike I think he said Love The Shorts. I can't be absolutely sure and spent a while trying to fit other words into the sound I heard. I was wearing shorts right enough, but thought it was overfamiliar for a stranger to remark upon them as they weren't the brightly coloured ones I have been breaking in for Tenerife. I suppose not many are still wearing shorts in late October.
I prefer shorts especially if running although as the weather has mostly stayed quite warm for this late in the year I am trying to extend the short wearing season which pretty much coincides with the butterfly season. Longer trousers and running tights from late October ~ March. Shorts and butterflies April ~ October. (And for 3 weeks during Winter in Tenerife.)
I was happy to photo this rabbit until I got round to an angle where I could see its eyes which were odd looking. I wondered if perhaps myxomatosis. 😭
the annual hebridean sheep gang have moved into their winter pastures
Near the beach saw a small flock of medium sized birds in the far distance. Even zooming in I couldn't be sure what species. My thoughts were fieldfares though I realise that was entirely wishful thinking and swayed by what I wanted to see. I tried this image in Obsidentify and google lens and then tried a cropped version (below) to see if there was any sort of agreement. All four suggestions were different and no better or worse than what I suspected. Answers ranged from fieldfares to pigeons (feral and wood) to starlings.
full zoom and crop - might just be pigeons
The main path to the beach at Gullane can be waterlogged and I expected a bit of puddle hopping near the Hebridean sheep enclosure. But it was pretty dry there. Not so nearer the beach where maybe storm surges had brought a high tide up into the low ground. As photo above. I had to tip-toe along the edge of the normally dry path to the dunes.
obsidentify says rock pipit
bar-tailed godwit
small display
Just as I was thinking there was a lack of nudists about today, now that the weather has turned, an otherwise normal looking bloke started taking his trousers off. By the time he was ready for a paddle I was a long way down the beach and able to photograph him with the long lens without him being self-conscious. Although I think a little more humility is sometimes a good thing. It was neither a day for swimming nor exposing oneself and he seemed to beat a retreat without getting his ankles wet.
At the far end of the beach the yellow cargo bike stood parked and padlocked. No sign of Love The Shorts. There were a couple of blokes chatting but I couldn't see the fluro-clad cyclist who'd admired my shorts to ask him if I misheard earlier. The sun was slowly being blocked by a blanket of low purple grey cloud moving slowly across the sky from the West. It was tempting to go directly to the bus stop at Gullane but I wanted to check out the trees beyond the car park for fieldfares so headed to the new pond beside the stream where small birds gathered on previous trips.
stonechat
wren
meadow coral fungi
puff-ball type fungus
tennis ball with measels
eider (m)
fox moth caterpillar
windfall
Going looking for fieldfares was a complete waste of time. One thing almost worth the extra mile was an apple tree which had grown thousands of apples and then dropped the majority in an amazing artwork round its base. There was an appley smell all around. We have been enjoying stewed cooking apples lately and they are fab. Fill the house with a delicious aroma while stewing. I really should have got out a camera with a wider shot as there was an amazing amount of fruit on the ground, not easy to document with the wildlife zoom. No doubt as a result of the recent strong winds. There were zero fieldfares.
A guy was walking a couple of very charming doggos though I couldn't get involved as they were already in chats with another pair of dogwalkers.
There were quite a few garden birds at the stream. They flew off every time dogwalkers went past and I stopped there for a bit to see if they would return. I ate the sandwich I had bought in Margiottas, saving the Portuguese Tarts for the bus ride home. But nothing appeared and I shortly departed to get the bus home.
At the bus stop I got out my new iPhone. My last one was unable to update to the latest version and so I was beginning to lose apps and the ability to download and use apps such as Merlin. I held off as long as possible because I hate to spend £300+ on an item I have no real love for. Last week I bought a refurbished iPhone 15 online and then swapped all my flotsam and jetsam from the old one to the new one - a relatively pain-free hassle although with quite a lot of pain, especially getting the old sim card out and getting it into the new one without the requisite tool. (Eventually found a paperclip in the bottom of a man-drawer.)
I despise the built-in redundancy whereby Apple forces you to give up a decent product that still works perfectly well and buy a new one to satisfy their idea of growth. This will be universally despised in a hundred years from now but is currently acceptable practise because we have not used every resource on the planet yet and there is still some to be exploited mercilessly. At least I probably have another 4 or 5 years before I have to get another phone.
The upside is I can now tell when the next bus is due. This is the thing I like most about mobile phones. (I have not yet used Merlin as I only installed it and have yet to identify an unknown bird call.) I absolutely HATE standing at the bus stop not knowing if the next bus is 3 mintues or 63. I'd rather walk a mile or two than stand getting cold to the bone waiting on a bus that might not arrive for an hour. I really loved the bus and tram apps I had on my previous phone but then they updated and my phone didn't. Couldn't. It became a necessary evil to buy a new one.
When I looked to see if I could work the new app it suggested the 124 was due in one minute. I looked up the road through Gullane and couldn't see any bus. However in a couple of minutes the 124 duly appeared and confirmed the app wasn't wildly wrong. A propitious first use. The drive back into Edinburgh was long and laboured as ever.
Not the worst day out, but neither the best.
angry dunnock
today's video clips
9½ miles in 4½ hrs
