best part of the day: counting my blossoms

23rd March

All it takes is for the clouds to part, temps to rise into double figures and not too much wind - and the butterflies appear! The 23rd ticked all those boxes. I had seen it coming, living by the forecast, and taken the day off work. It was a Wednesday and nice to break up what was quite an intense week's work, with a relaxing day out. But where to go? Last time, I had trained into East Lothian for a longish run by the river Tyne. Rivers so often seem to have the right combination of blooms, blossoms and whatever magical ingredients are necessary, but I had seen a post by Unda of butterflies on blossoms in Holyrood Pk and nothing beats butterflies on blossom. I decided to stay local and check out Holyrood.

There was a haze, a coastal haar in the park, and I hoped the cool misty air wouldn't deter the butterflies. Initially I went to the blossoming bushes Unda had told me about when I messaged her. On the way I passed a few perching birds who were cheeping away like blazes.

greenfinch

chaffinch

small tortoiseshell

I am trying to remember the order I saw stuff. Initially I think there was not much to see between old NBA corner and new NBA corner. I found the blossoming shrubs and I think maybe a small tort and a few bees. My plan was to head to Dr. Neil's Garden at Duddingston where flowering heather was a pull (and a photogenic background) for butterflies early on last year. I had high hopes so wasn't particularly worried by the lack of butterflies on Unda's blossom. Which she suggested was wild plum. I couldn't really be sure of the difference between plum, cherry, hawthorn or blackthorn blossoms, and I was too lazy to research it all. Yes some are small trees and others, sticks-like canes. And I don't have a smart phone so can't do apps that tell you which is which.

chiffchaff

mrs pheasant

I was interested to see men at work on top of Samson's Ribs, the unusually named columnar basalt outcrop above the Innocent Railway. Hopefully their work will make the roads safe and allow them to be used again. However I was less pleased to find as a result, they were closed and being monitored by park rangers while this work was ongoing, which meant a hike back up to the top road in order to get round to Duddingston and Dr. Neils.

I passed this guy who has taken to sitting near the gorse bush made famous 2 years ago for the green hairstreak. 2 years ago! That is some thought, how time flies. None last year though in Holyrood. The guy is a bit strange and was seen around Holyrood in lockdown, often giving speeches to invisible audiences. I suspect he has mental health issues and seems more accustomed to arguing with passers-by than just saying hello or having a positive interaction.

However the best result of being made to hike up to (and along) the top road is that when I descended down the Duddingston steps I found some excellent bushes in blossom about halfway down that were buzzing with insects and butterflies. I think they were blackthorn rather than a tree but really not sure.

There seemed to be a couple of commas and some peacocks and maybe a peripatetic small tort. I stopped for some while and took photos. They were not overly thrilled by my company and even less so by every person that passed up and down the steps. Sometimes they would return, sometimes they flew off and weren't seen again. It was a great spot but I still had high hopes for Dr Neil's so didn't stay too long.

Here is a video. As I said here recently I have been tweaking them to make them fit on Blogger which has a video size limit. Using video software to shrink the original file which is too large to post. I have since been experimenting with output size (and also tweaking with stabilisation in post, to make video less shoogly) to make the largest clearest videos within the size limitations which might be 100mb. Which gives a lot of wriggle room. I particularly liked the orange hairs around the body of the comma glinting in sunlight. The trouble with these photos and video of a comma on blossom is now I can't get excited by a comma sitting on dirt or dead leaves. No longer cuts the mustard. Too high a standard has been set! Sometimes you have to click twice to get video to start. Let me know if it defo won't play and I'll review the output format. Currently a wmv file (Windows Media Video File) rather than mpeg as seemed to be smaller and yet still HD.

So along to Dr. Neil's I went, hoping to see lots of butterflies, particularly on the flowering heather. One single small tort was the sum total despite a couple of circuits. It's still a lovely garden (and free to get into) but one butterfly and a blackbird is not quite enough. So I legged it back to Duddingston steps and had more blossomy fun.

a magnolia bud on a small tree

back to the steps...

So I had been merrily snapping away when I noticed, heard probably, a young woman pushing her bike up the steps. She was approaching, and the comma which had been out of sight round the back of the bush since I had returned, had just that moment flown into a perfect position for photos. Yet here comes bike-pushy-lady. Bummer! And she is pushing her bike up the side of the steps nearest the blossomy butterflies. I got a couple of shots before it was my duty to stand to one side and her her through, knowing there was a 95% chance the comma would skedaddle. Maybe I should offer to carry her bike round the other side away from the action? Maybe I should offer anyway as she is clearly struggling and puffing hard - it is bad enough just walking up these 212 (I think) steps. We have often used them as a run training exercise. Maybe she would prefer I just stand back and leave her to her own devices and not mansplain how to push a bike up steps. Which is what I did. And the comma flew off and didn't return. 😭

last comma photo

How very selfish to push your bike through my butterfly photos! 😁

Another video clip - the difference a bit of sunshine makes is just huge - peacock in dappled sunlight, looking just fantastic. Mainly due to the light rather than my camera work, although Panasonic cameras have always been great for videos as well as stills. Also the peacock was fairly obliging and didn't mind me being really close.

After all of that I was so giddy I felt I might just push my luck and see if there were any vanessids up the top of Crow Hill. It is another long climb up the hill once you get to the top of the steps. But sometimes yields red admirals or painted ladies. Which seemed unlikely this early in the year but I needed the exercise. There were a few ladybirds out and about.

But no butterflies. Possibly too cold and blowy although it wasn't bad. While I wandered about I saw this bird and recognised it as a wheatear. Ken had been mentioning them as one that would turn up sometime soon. I had seen a photo of one from elsewhere and was surprised such an elegant specimen could live round these parts and totally escape my attention. They are lovely birds. And not super timid. This one was not that keen on company but hopped and flew short distances rather than buggering off over the far horizon before I had raised the camera. Which allowed me to follow quietly a short way behind and capture it on a couple of different rocks. I was very pleased to photograph it as I've not seen many photos of wheatears on fb group Lothian Birdwatch.

By that point I was absolutely stoked. But seeing a kestrel fly past slightly below the height I was standing, I saw it dip to perhaps land on a perch just out of sight. I crept up to the next bluff and saw it perched on a small tree. I'd like to say I crept up unseen but she (it was a female - the males have a grey head) was watching me every step. I'd take a photo, edge forward, take another pic, and creep slowly forward. Just as I got to within a decent distance she flew off, but I was pleased to have got the shot I got.

Coming round the dirt trail above Hunter's Bog there was another tree blossoming and being enjoyed by this peacock. Again with quite a bit of through traffic I couldn't stand around long before it was chased off. The best looking peacock of the day (below) was just sat on the dirt sunbathing. When I got close, it would fly 10 yards down the trail and settle on the ground again. I felt bad continually following it down the path and hoped it would fly onto nearby gorse flowers to make a better picture, but it refused. Some young females went past and squeaked and giggled like it was a terrifying creature, giggling and running for cover as it fluttered menacingly at them. I wondered what they thought it might possibly do? About the worst it could have done was a suicide-flap onto their heavily made-up faces and smudge their trowelled-on slap.

best specimen of the day?
And teenage terror?

how many is too many?

I went back round the front to check out Unda's trees again but there wasn't a lot there. This peacock and another less reachable. And couple of fun looking doggies... (if to prove nothing else than I don't hate all canines!)

At the last moment before heading home I turned back into Hunter's Bog to see if any stonechats were flying about in the last of the afternoon light. I was most of the way up the straight side when I saw this pair - prob the same ones as before. They played a fun game where they stayed near enough that I was inclined to follow, but they led me across lots of tricky ground to see if they could get me to slash my legs with bramble injuries. I got some half decent photos but I think they won the game as my legs were well shredded. You can almost see them smirking.