sunny Dunny!

 

11-08-22

Another blue sky day and heatwave. Just right to check out the info I think I first heard from Carolyn H that there were banded demoiselles at the ford below Preston Mill on the River Tyne. iRecord confirmed this. In the past I have found this stretch of river (and that just upstream of the ford) to be butterfly rich and have even spotted a kingfisher here. Also it would mean not having to carry sandwiches which would be provided by the coop at East Linton. An ambitious plan was forming. I'd then cross the river and climb Traprain Law (a long ago sighting of a Painted Lady atop the hill inspired this) then run through Pressmennan wood to get to Woodhall Dean late afternoon and hunt for purple hairstreaks which fly about 5pm. 

sunny Dunbar

There were a couple of flaws with this plan. The main one being it was an absolute scorcher of a day and the total distance - mapped out and uploaded into my Suunto - was 27 miles. I hadn't really considered a plan B, but it was along the lines of ditch Woodhall Dean and take a direct line back to Dunbar and the train home, if I was in danger of melting. Which would still be over 20 miles. I put plenty sun screen on, filled the back pack reservoir with a litre and a half of water (I'd refill at E Linton) and tried not to think too much about the distance. I was excited about the prospect of Bandies - a fantastic damselfly, and it didn't occur that they (or any of my target species) might be in short supply. I got off the 10am train in Dunbar and not a cloud in sight. Perfect!

I stopped outside a nicely planted tiny front garden to photograph a small tort and peacock on valerian. Then onto the JMW and there were a million whites on all the flowers and juv starlings dotted about. I tried not to linger too long, I could have happily walked the whole way, but there was ground to cover. 

GVW

young starling

canada geese

ugliest swan in East Lothian

always good advice
more young starlings

ugliest swan ha ha
(East Links Family Park)

Before I'd even got to Hedderwick Point it was fast becoming obvious that walls were going to be the butterfly of the day. I had seen a few taking off from the path as I ran, and stopped to get some photos beside East Links Farm. They were in the sort of numbers today I'd only previously seen on the Berwickshire Coastal Path. I remembered it was probably 5 (maybe 7?) years ago I first saw them in East Lothian between Dunbar and North Berwick while out cycling, and nowhere else. A thing of rare beauty and seldom seen in the Lothians. Since then they have settled and multiplied and are working their way North through Fife. They are a quality butterfly (when fresh are a bright orange with an underwing like a vintage dressing gown lining) and a very welcome addition. Butterfly Conservation reports they are rapidly declining in England and has it as "Butterfly Conservation priority: High". As with a lot of BC propaganda this diagnosis is based on central and southern England and little reflects the establishing and expansion of this species in Scotland.  

wall (f)
different forewing pattern to males

after about 6 miles I got to the ford

I was disappointed there weren't dozens of demoiselles dancing around the riverside. It became apparent very quickly that even if there were the odd one about, there was no easy access to the overgrown banks of the river. There were several points of access but you couldn't wander up and down the riverside the way you can at Bluestone Ford, a favourite spot for demoiselles. I had a look for about 5 minutes and decided to not waste any more time there. There was no sign of any other damselflies or dragonflies. If something flew past you couldn't follow it or get close for a photo. Also the riverbed underwater looked deep, rocky and very slithery and not worth stepping into the water with a camera. I decided to continue upstream and check at every access point. It was the first of several disappointments. 

the ford from the walkway crossing

no easy access

Every point I could get to the water's edge I checked for insects.
It was a lovely day but the lack of flying things was a bit frustrating. 

another ford

Just upstream of this ford I heard a dad and son talking, and realised they were walking up and down the river itself. I was really quite jealous! They seemed to be sploshing along the river looking for fish and just enjoying the cool water on a hot day. I really wanted to do the same but didn't want to run in wet shoes and socks for the rest of the day or take them off and go barefoot. Maybe I should have? However I felt I was still on a mission - several missions - and so hurried on. Next venue was where I saw loads of Springtime butterflies, just downstream of Polton Mill. There is a bend in the river and loads of willow. There's often a good selection of birds and butterflies. Today, not so much. And the vegetation and undergrowth was so high and impenetrable that I just walked on the trail alongside and hoped my presence would scare up any butterflies lurking in the long grasses. There were loads of whites - GVWs, small and large. I took pics of a couple of large, but felt, yet again, a bit short changed.

East Linton across a cabbage field

green veined white

small white

small tort

large white

I waved hello to this Hell's Angel roaring down the road

I knew I'd be hitting East Linton about 7.5 miles into the day and could buy lunch at the coop. Easier than carrying a sammich which would be warm and squished before lunch time. I went for brown bread prawn mayonnaise, a favourite for a long day. I also put a litre of water into my reservoir and ate 2 Portuguese Custard Tarts - just in case I did the full 27 miles. There wouldn't be another food stop until Dunbar. (I had a few back-up sports bars in my pack.) I was feeling restored when I got back onto the riverside trails up to Hailes Castle - still hoping I'd see some decent wildlife. And if not, then at least I'd enjoy a big load of miles over really nice countryside.

Portuguese custard tart (second one!)

These large fibreglass charity things. I don't know how much money they raise for good causes but most of them I really hate. The statues, not the charities. (That hare is actually quite attractive, and I can't help but take a photo every time I pass.) Well the cows were harmless. Except for the fiberglass and epoxy resins being possibly about as degradable as spent nuclear fuel. The Oor Wullies were poorly modelled FAT monstrosities. (Trying to normalise the contemporary trend for being 6 stone overweight?) The current giraffes, well on the way to being eyesores. I just think in a very short time people will be saying WHAT THE FUCK? And regarding them the same way we currently regard lawn jockeys. Another terrible idea from a terrible time. A quick google shows how much they raise for good causes. Looks like we will be seeing them for a long time to come. 😔

large white

large white

speckled wood

banded demoiselle (f)

As I was passing the spot below on the river (upstream of the wooden steps; downstream of the A1) I saw quite a bit of dragonfly action. A pair of conjoined darters and a few damselflies. I stopped to take photos and a female Banded Demoiselle landed on one of the sticks on this side of the river. I felt my luck was improving. However it wasn't a fab specimen and it wasn't possible to get that close without getting into the water which would have chased it off. I took loads of photos from as near as I could get. I was pleased to have confirmed they are on this river but it was a very second rate experience compared to getting close to them at Bluestone Ford. I waited for maybe 15 minutes at this spot but no further demoiselles showed themselves. I was very lucky to see this one although given the perfect weather, if there were loads about they would have given some indication of their presence. Which makes me think there are just a few and they mostly keep to themselves. This would correspond to the minimal sightings on iRecord. In summary: want to see Bandies? Go to the borders. (Or over to the West.)

common darters

Around here I came across this dude who was walking 2 large lab-like dogs. He spoke with an Australian twang and seeing my camera said if I was interested there was a family of swans just over there if I wanted to take photos of them. I said not really and was about to launch in to a speech about dragonflies and butterflies when he said, "Good because they are being dicks. They've got our tennis ball and won't give it back." I felt his pain but wondered how all that had come about.

Further along, near the A1 crossing overhead,

 was this odd couple pairing of peacock and small copper

Someone had posted that there were holly blues on ivy between East Linton and Hailes Castle. I could only think of this huge wall of ivy. It is near an excellent spot for Springtime beauties - orange tips and peacocks. But I could not see a single silvery bluey white flutter. Short of getting some throwing sticks I reckoned I could stand there all day and see nothing, so moved on, hoping for better elsewhere. Next stop Traprain Law.

You think it's warm?
We're painted black and there's no shade in this field!

the only ladies on Traprain summit

I once came across a painted lady and red admiral on the top of Traprain Law. I regularly come across both on the top of the crags or Crow Hill in Holyrood. It's a while since I climbed Trap Law - and usually from the other side. The hill/trail race goes up the steep East side and down the more gradual West gradient. I have run it a few times and like it because it is more trails than hills. There were zero butterflies on the entire hill and I felt I was not having much luck today. I exited off the sharp end and headed across and down the road on the other side. 

vulture circling me as I ran out of givesafuck

So when I got to the road I turned right - the wrong direction for Dunbar. I had put a cross country route into my gps watch which I now followed across the boundary of a farmers field. It was a well established right of way but came to an abrupt end when it met this recently scooped out ditch and electric fence. Rarely am I put off by such modest discouragements. The drainage ditch was about 8 to 10 feet deep - too wide to jump. It was not the thought of putting my camera away and scrabbling down and up this moat. Or climbing the electrified fence. It was the horrible thought of going for another half mile before finding a field of furious cattle or the path running out before it hit the next road and having to climb through a field of thistles. And retreat. At which point I'd have to scale the fence and ditch again. And it was this uncertainty that had me turn around. I knew I wasn't having an optimal luck day and was fast running out of mojo. The thought of many miles through Pressmennan Wood and then across fields (potentially cattle fields) to get into Woodhall Dean via the unofficial back door, was enough to have me throw in the towel. Did I mention it was scorchio hot and not a day for running 27 miles cross country? I turned round and headed back to the road and took what I hoped was the fastest route back towards Dunbar Station. If I was really lucky I'd just miss a train and have to sit in the small bar next to the station and drink pints. Fingers crossed.

end of the road

There was a big straight road as you can see on the map below. (Trap Law is pretty much the furthest South West corner before I took the single red line South then turned back.) My gps watch does not do maps unless I pre-program it (modern ones do) so I had to guess the best route back to Dunbar. I hadn't really figured a plan B. But I could see roughly the way to go and most junctions in East Lothian have these charming black and white pointy posts with names on them, and roughly how many miles to that place. I say roughly.

When I got back to the Luggate road and hit the next junction it said 7 miles to Dunbar. I put away the camera and tried to get my road running head on. I'd pick up the pace then try to keep it going until that house on the horizon, or the end of the next field. I did this for 15 minutes and met the next sign that said Dunbar 6.5 miles. Given I'd covered about 2 miles I thought this is going to be a long day. Happily it wasn't far to the next sign which said Dunbar, 3 and 5/8ths miles. I was pleased to see this although I did wonder if I was more inclined to believe the "nearly there" sign than the "it's going to take forever" sign, because it suited my needs. I used the 5/8ths to shore up my preference - you'd put a half if you'd approximated it, or just round it up to 4. But 5/8th suggests an accuracy measured by a craftsman, someone who took pride in their work, and did a thoroughly exacting job. For sure!

My head slowly considered distances as I ran through the baking late afternoon. Also my target moved from the 5.50 train to the 5.10. I could probably make the earlier one. I had run out of fluids a few miles back - you can't see the level of water left in the backpack reservoir or know what remains until it gurgles like a straw at the bottom of a milk shake. That's it bud, you're out of drink! Gonna die on the trail like a dog! A very thirsty dog! 6 miles still to go. Which means the next hour will dry you out nicely. Maybe you can pick up the pace and it'll only be 45mins till you reach that shit garage on the outskirts of sunny dunny. I then went through a list of drinks the Jet Garage might have in stock (screen wash, with magic tree crisps) and what I'd most like to drink. I once ended a 30 miler in Dunbar coming in that road and made the mistake of buying a Peperami as they seemed short of normal human food. It tasted like I imagined sun dried dog shit would taste. I haven't ever had one since, nor will I ever again. 

I was not keen on the route turning West just after crossing the A1. However it had a decent pavement and I knew it turned East again at the next roundabout. I wondered if I'd maybe forgotten about a lovely shop selling cold drinks or ice creams on this road. Nope. I nearly asked a couple of dog-walking locals where the nearest shop was but couldn't trust my dried out tongue not to say thop thop thop while raising my eyebrows. Would that work? Safer to just run to the Petrol Station. I could see it on the rippling heat-haze horizon. The last hundred yards took ages. I just bought water. A litre seemed about right although I had drunk most of that sixty yards after the shop.

I though about the size of the bottle - that large cuboid of water now in my stomach and seeping out through drinking-straw like veins or arteries into my blood system which would return to liquid form having been more like a thick sludgy soup. Another few miles and it would have been solid and peperami like. It felt good to be returning my sludge to liquid and yet not within my control or rather it was happening without me being at the helm. All my working parts did their stuff remarkably well, and slowly I began to feel more normal. I was going to have a proper scrub up and hose down in the waiting room toilets but the Edinburgh train (the 5.10) pulled into the station 10 mins early, as did I, so I postponed the washing till later, and got on the train. Mary said when I arrived home that I was fairly salt encrusted, and not quite as presentable as I had hoped. 

21+ miles
plus 2 station miles in Edinburgh

It wasn't a huge success, given I didn't really meet any of the targets I set out to achieve. (Except to photograph a Bandy on the Tyne.) Without those targets though, I certainly wouldn't have managed 21 miles of running on one of the hottest days of the year. Although I do much prefer a hot day to a rainy cold day. I saw many nice things and photographed some of them. And my suspicions about Purple Hairstreaks in Woodhall Dean turned out to be spot on. I've never seen them there but the place is full of old oaks. I have looked on previous visits* but I have never been late enough in the day - they tend to fly around 5 or 6pm. The path climbs up through the old (sessile) oaks and it is relatively easy to see the top most branches and canopies of some. Just a couple of days later a butterfly hunting colleague Geoff and his wife went there and recorded the first official sightings of Purple Hairstreaks in Woodhall Dean. 

On the upside I didn't die.

*Here is a blog (Click here) from 2017 when Mazza and I cycled to Woodhall Dean looking for snakes and purple hairstreaks. Interestingly it mentions global warming and White Letter Hairstreaks being seen in Scotland for the first time in 133 years, in the Guardian newspaper no less! - didn't even know the funny bloke who made the discovery back then! Ah so much has happened in those 5 years!