big wood 3

 

24-08-23 Another cycle out to Saltoun Big Wood. Another day of sunshine and butterflies! I decided to change the format slightly and go via Colstoun Wood just South of Haddington, to the pond where broad bodies chasers had been flying earlier in the season. I reckoned there wouldn't be any remaining (which was correct) but that there might be Emperors or Southern Hawkers (which was wrong.) However you never know unless you go along and I wanted to check for black darters and anything else exotic that might have gone unnoticed. It was almost entirely Common Hawkers and Common Darters, the latter in great abundence mostly in pairs. It is a good pond for access and getting up to the water's edge for photos, and you can mostly see everything easily. 

the pond, just South of Colstoun Woods

common darters

common hawker

I was pleased to get a few in-flight photos. It is not easy and requires a bit of luck along with a lot of skill. It is one aspect that a large format DSLR copes with much better than a bridge camera, (due to focussing and cropping) and I have never felt confident I am doing much other than taking a hundred deletes for every half-successful result. Common Hawkers are the least helpful at hovering in the same place while I rush to focus on them, and seem to have a sixth sense about flying off just as you train your lens on them.

While I was bushwacking through the local undergrowth this wall was the only thing I came across worth pointing the camera at. I was hoping to see female hawkers who stay away from the immediate pond area and the attentions of the males, unless ovipositing. 

emerald damselflies

After about 40mins, I jumped back on the bike. It took 1hr25 to cycle to Coulston and a further 40mins to cycle via Gifford to Saltoun Big Wood. I only stopped to photograph this large bear mannequin at the side of the road. Not sure what its purpose is.

I padlocked the bike in the trees at the old car park and went along to the first pond. I took many pics of dragonflies in flight but only this common hawker made the grade. Also while I was there a comma came and landed on the surface plants. I felt it was signal to go to the other end of the woods and enjoy the butterfly spectacle there. I did as I was told.

I think Bob was there as well and we chatted about dragonflies and butterflies. (I have been so many times lately it can be tricky to recall what happened on which trip.) I forgot to take his photo so have no definitive proof he was there however as we left to go look for butterflies I noticed this hawker sat on the cut-down birch logs at the side of the pond. I try to remember to check birch trunks as they are a favourite resting place for common hawkers. We took some shots and then wandered along to butterfly alley. 

black darter female

Ah yes Bob was there as it was him that found this pair of black darters up at pond number 5. They were perched within maybe a metre or 2 of each other. Just slightly too far apart to get both (not blurred) in the same photo. They may well have been arranging a date or something stronger but were both playing hard to get at the time we saw them. Female BDs can look similar to common darter females so it was good to have this one near to a male BD which confirmed its species. That said I have photographed a black darter male trying to hook up with a common darter female who was NOT impressed. So it is not just me that finds them hard to ID.

black darter male (with blurry female in background)

a year ago (27-08-22) I photo-ed this mis-match;
over keen black darter male courting a common darter female

I have been to Saltoun several times recently. Each visit butterfly alley is slightly different. It began with loads of peacocks, some RAs and a few commas. The peacocks were beginning to fade a little by this trip and the Admirals were flourishing, although there were nearly as many commas. It was great to see, although difficult to concentrate on individuals for photos, as there were just so many.

red admirals were like dark velvet duvets

still plenty peacocks

and loads of good looking commas

I liked this picture for the proportions I reckoned weren't far off overall numbers: 

about 60% peacocks with 20% RAs and 20% commas.

butterfly alley

comma on scabious

there were a few walls about,
the females being in better nick than the males

I left Bob in swirls of butterflies to go back to the ponds to check out dragonflies again. When I got to the junction I continued on downhill towards the river, hoping to see a painted lady. Unusually there had been none in 3 trips to butterfly alley and I wondered if there were any along the less visited trails. Alas there weren't, but there were a couple of things worth photographing, from peacocks sunbathing on a log to a scruffy long haired comma that looked odd when I took its photo but doesn't now. Maybe it was the light? Maybe it was the light-headedness?

I spent a little while longer messing about beside the pond but without any notable success, then decided to save the rest of my remaining strength for the cycle home. Even after 3 visits in a short while this magical place still held many joys and I knew it wasn't the last trip of the Summer. 

common darter

47miles in 7hrs