best part of the day: east lothian revisited

17th Dec.

A great day out. An unusually sunny Friday encouraged us to drive down to Gullane and then run to Yellowcraigs through the woods and back along the coast.

I started by taking some photos of the flowers beside the Public Toilets. It is nice they have installed and filled planters with attractive things but I was really sorry they removed the buddleias which were a good bet as butterfly lures from mid Summer. I think they have also removed the california lilac which was popular with Holly Blues.

It reminded me of another case of people thinking they were doing something useful and of benefit to everyone when they were actually doing some terrible vandalism. I was reminded of the incident when I saw in Mud in your Eye online magazine of East Lothian Rangers that John Harrison, Aberlady Warden, had been given the Bob Saville Award. I have not forgotten his name because it was John who burned down the Butterfly Bush in 2017.

My interest in butterflies goes way back, and when Mary and I ran through Aberlady reserve most weekends we would often stop at the epicentre of butterfly life, the Butterfly Bush, a collection of sea buckthorn, nettles and thistles near the junction of a couple of paths and often ringed off with electric fencing. The electric fence was turned on when sheep were introduced to graze that area. If there were few butterfly specimens elsewhere in Aberlady there'd often be a decent collection of peacocks, small torts and whites at the butterfly bush. With an occasional comma, red admiral and painted lady. I think it was the combination of nettles, thistles and sea buckthorn as protection from the deer and human through traffic, though nowhere else we have found before or since has the same concentration of butterfly activity.

the butterfly bush(es) before Oct 2017

Cut to mid October 2017 and we run past a bonfire there. (Blog here) Well meaning volunteers were happily ripping out the sea buckthorn right at that very spot and burning it. After emailing the rangers to ask what the hell was going on I was told by John Harrison that under his instigation they were containing the spread of the sea buckthorn. And were doing their best to leave the thistles and nettles. It was just the sea buckthorn they were removing and burning. I regarded this as unnecessary vandalism but hoped the butterflies would continue to use the area or move to another similar, nearby. They did not and 4 years later the area still has not recovered and has been left bereft of butterflies. And I have not found any area since that has enjoyed the same concentration of lepidoptera. Even though there is the same combo of nettles, thistles and buckthorn almost everywhere on the reserve.

misguided

I see from his Bob Saville Award write up that John H is particularly interested in birds and moths. It is a real shame he didn't notice the concentration of butterflies around the area he ripped up and burned. Because it has never recovered. Although he "left" the thistles and nettles they got a fair trampling from the volunteers and so all the next season's caterpillars and eggs must have been killed. It shows how fragile such a community can be, as a fair amount of the buckthorn was left, as were the majority of nettles and thistles; but the damage was done and the butterflies never returned.

BTW here is a blog 6 weeks before the bush was torched outlining the finer qualities and the sort of time I'd spend there, and showing some specimens on the Butterfly Bush. I can't tell you how much I hated it being trampled and ripped out and burned and how much I regard the actions of John Harrison to be (at the very least) misguided and ruinous to the butterfly life there.

the Hopetoun Monument

the only butterflies seen today were at the Archerfields gatehouse

There were a small group of these (yellowhammer?) high up a tree,

staying well out of focus behind branches and generally taking the Michael.

deer in field

Dirleton Kirk

Just there (at Dirleton Kirk) before heading back into the woods, we spotted a large buzzard sat in a tree in the nearby garden. I took a couple of pics with the compact in my hand in case it flew off before I could get the bridge camera out my back pack. I ducked below the garden wall to avoid being seen. The bird had seen us though, and when I popped up from behind the wall it took one look and turned its back on us, as if knowing this would ruin the shot. Mary said that stopping and starting running was setting off her dodgy hip and she would prefer to keep moving. I could catch up with her. I put the bridge camera away but chased the buzzard to 2 further perches stalking it with the compact. Every time I got near, it lazily flopped off its perch and settled another 100 yards away. I gave up, defeated, without a decent photo.

the usual deer family in the usual spot

By the time we got down to the shore at Yellowcraigs and turned West the skies were clear and it was just fantastic. There was a slight haze but it was nearly windless and the sea was flat calm. It almost felt warm in the sun.

robin on the sea buckthorn

Fidra

they would appear to be building a ramp

to get onto and off the beach at this point

Fidra, the propeller cone thing and Archerfields golf course

Mary runs ahead

luckiest photo of the day

I could see those insects that appear when it is sunny - gnats? That dance in the sunbeams like tiny fairies with their arms and legs splayed. I did not have time to stop and try to photo them. Almost impossible to focus on them and not the grass behind. So I was very surprised and pleased that the compact picked up 5 or 6 of them in decent focus in a photo that was taken just to show how low the sun was in the sky. Didn't even see the gnats.

As we ran through the grasslands back from the coast I spotted the ears of a roe deer. I walked slowly off the path and into the grass to see how close I could get before it moved. It turned out to be a couple of deer and I got really quite close before they could be bothered. Then they bounced over the long grass rather than running normally. I judged the rhythm of the bounce and tried to push the shutter release on the apex. The chances of success and no movement blur were slim but I reckoned later that all the day's luck was channelled into this (and the gnats) photo.

most fortunate image of the day

So I used up all my luck in one or 2 shots. I have to say despite those shots being better than expected (especially with just the compact camera) I found the lack of birds and other wildlife out and about, pretty disappointing. Although it would be churlish to complain on such a glorious day, wouldn't it?

I have described the deer photo as fortunate since it was what I was aiming for, I just didn't expect the result to be as good. Normally I'd get the animal half out the shot, or too slow an exposure would make for blur. To get it mid-bounce, sharp and perfectly framed was more than I could have hoped for. The gnats were pure luck - I didn't see them and wasn't trying to take their photo. That one was just an early christmas present from camera-jesus.

another gnatty image

Around here it was all looking so amazing I had to stop and get the big camera out. I hoped there would be more deer or fabulous things to photo, at which point it is often too late to unpack the bridge camera while the soaring eagle disappears over the next ridge. My reluctance was that Mary wasn't stopping and I'd have to run faster to catch up. And increase the risk of tripping up and throwing my camera into the bushes. She said "you know which way I'm going" and continued, while I put one camera away and got out the other. I did know which way she was going but there are lots of paths going the same way and I was concerned we'd get separated in the woods. Every time I got close to her I'd see a great image and stop to photo and she'd get over the next bluff. I managed not to toss the camera but also there were no eagles.