drem to north berwick

 

21-09-23 Drem to North Berwick is 5 mins on the train but I hopped off the train and took 5hrs by heading to Aberlady and then down the coast. The inspiration was Caroline Smith posting photos of sanderlings on Lothian Birdwatch fb page. I have bumped into Caroline but suspect she wouldn't remember as I am not feathered. She seems to be out all the time and catching great photos of birds with only a 400mm lens. Not sure how she does this! Anyway she posted a sanderling set saying "no apologies for the number of photos - they are such busy mesmirising little birds." She had caught them around Thortonloch but I have regularly seen them between Aberlady and North Berwick so headed out to find some!

The forecast was good and it was blue skies as I got off at Drem. My original plan was to get off at Longniddry and run East, but I had a hunch the route between Drem and Aberlady was richer. It was a great call. The very first half mile was swarming with admirals, particularly the hedge-lined track that descends towards Gullane into farmer's fields. The hedge has brambles growing in among the privet and (this year) where there's brambles there's admirals.

this hedge was busy with admirals sheltering from the West wind

At the bottom of the road you are into fields. I would be reluctant to cross these fields without paths but there used to be a right of way track across to Luffness Farm. It still exists in a less formal way and I bet someone gets a stipend for it but it has been ploughed a few times and although there are perimeter edges worn down by footfall it is a long way from being signposted or well used. As I say if I had not known about its previous incarnation, I'd be reluctant. I kept well clear of trampling crops. I always behave as if being watched by the farmer which is entirely possible.

small flock of goldfinches

Towards Aberlady and there are several fields planted with magic margins; wildflowers either for the benefit of pollinators, or to keep the insects off the crop, instead of insecticides. Which strikes me as a win / win situation. You get beautiful wildflowers that pay for their keep by giving food and accommodation to caterpillars and other "pests". From the look of them most blooms seemed to have gone past their best and were beginning to fade. However it was the only place I saw large whites (cabbage whites in old money) as well as small whites and the occasional silver Y moth and admiral. I spent quite a while wandering in amongst the non-crops taking photos.

There were also sunflowers. Maybe not as many as before but a lot looked like they might be self seeded from previous years, growing through the wildflowers. Again hugely popular with bees and hoverflies. And me! I looked down to see what was irritating my ankles. I had been swithering between trail shoes with gaitors and just road runners. I went with the latter because they are more comfortable for longer days out but really if I had thought I would be in among the grasses and seed pods I'd have worn gaiters. My socks were heavy with sticky willies and were in need of a pitstop and fix.

ahhh there's the problem.

Meanwhile I checked out this pond. A bitumen lined man-made lagoon for field irrigation, this often has common darters and damselflies. I hoped for more exotic but only saw a couple of darters. Next door were some more sunflowers which had attracted a silver Y moth.

silver Y

speckled wood

Okay that's all the rough off road ground covered - time to empty those socks and shoes. I found a small seat and took socks and shoes off and spent 10 mins detaching all the seeds I could find. I knew if I did a slipshod clean-out there'd be one irritating wee seed left and it would turn into a blister. I did a good job on one side, the other shoe was back off in 5 minutes to find the troublemaker. 

badger at the roadside having an everlasting snooze 😥

curlew sneaking up on a little egret

I was tempted to check for butterflies at Luffness but instead headed along to the bridge at Aberlady. I counted 5 little egrets between the Gullane road and the bridge. A couple of them were East of the bridge and I snuck around by the toilet block trying to look un-predator-like. I took some distant shots but the all-white birds are not easy to photo from afar without them overexposing. They used to be super rare but are now relatively commonplace at Aberlady. They are not too keen to let humans get near so I lost interest quickly and headed down to towards the beach.

On the way to the beach I had a look for stonechats (none) and other stuff. The only thing I photo-ed other than the bunnies by their sandy warrens was what looked like an owl pellet. However closer inspection showed a lack of mice bones. I could see beetle carapaces but not enough mouse evidence (fur, skulls and bones) to look like owls' cast offs (unless the owls have gone beetle-vegetarian). George on facebook suggested it may be a crow pellet. A number of birds produce pellets. I also thought that they looked like a wholesome wholefood breakfast cereal: just pour on some milk and watch it go beetle coloured! Get one of your five-bugs-a-day with Wholemeal Rook Biscuits! A tight little cluster of plant and beetle biomass with grit for fibre! A new superfood!

mini-sub in front of Arthur

curly-bill making its escape

oyster catcher

The tide was out and Aberlady beach was looking fabulous! There was a wind blowing so it wasn't overly warm but it was just delightful and there was hardly another soul there. Unfortunately I didn't see that many waders and no sanderlings. There were a bunch of what might be godwits. We get 2 types in the UK; Black-tailed and Bar-tailed. I thought these were Black-tailed but if the beaks go up at the end they are Bar-tailed. Later I saw some bar-tailed so your guess is as good as mine. They don't appear to have a black tail. 

another distant curlew

I was clambering about on the rocks near Gullane Point when a wheatear flew over and landed nearby. While I was pleased to be able to identify it - and v happy it was one in my repertoire, it kept a certain distance just outwith decent photo range. Before then buggering off entirely, leaving me high and dry on wobbly rocks, not for the first time wondering why I wasn't wearing grippy trail shoes. I stumbled over to the corner where eiders often collect, keeping low until I got within shooting distance. It worked and I got a couple of shots before they moved slightly further out to sea. 

cormorant

male and female eider

Curiously there was also a female goosander with an identity issue in the small group of eider. They seemed happy to include her and she swam casually in their midst. At first I thought she might be a red-breasted merganser - a more sea-going version of the more river-based goosander, but telling the difference is all about the neck line - faded in the RBM and a straight line across for goosander. 

3 in a row

I skirted the golf course climbing up the hill at Gullane Point and then along to the car park to say hello to Hazel in the ice cream van. There were loads of brambles and a handful of red admirals, some of which took off as I ran past and then circled back to return to their perches. Some were happy to sunbathe, others were settled on the rose hips. While taking photos I noticed one would put its proboscis into tiny holes in the fruits. Since they cannot drill holes themselves these holes must have been left by maggots or small larvae of other insects or beetles. The more you looked the more you could see. And it looked rather like a tourist with a long drinking straw in a coconut. I wondered if they were getting equally smashed. I was struggling to get decent photos as the one modelling coconut cocktails was in poor light behind some leaves. I resorted to reaching in and lifting it out into better light for a photo. The drunken admiral didn't even budge, but kept slurping away.

where is the hole?

yup! there we go!

what shall we do with the drunken sailor?

way, hay, and up she rises

small white

apples

In the car park I was struck by the similarity of these 2 dog-walking businesses. 

The Fairy Dogmother and The Dogfather. 

as long as they pick up behind them I don't really have a problem

sea buckthorn berries well out!

The big surprise was no ice cream van. I went past the stance and did a double take, but no defo no ice cream van. I think it was the first sunny day here without the ice-cream van. We are both weather dependant, me more than Hazel. Oh well, no chit-chat today! There is a route, a trod that goes between bushes down into the dunes. It has a good mix of nettles and brambles and sure enough not just red admirals but the only comma of the day flew up as I ran towards it. I recognised the flight irregularities, the colour - a flash of orange - and sharpness of wings as comma-like, and followed it like a hawk until it settled way up on a reversed bramble leaf.

The comma was little to no use where it sat and although I might take 18 rather poor photos I was also in no hurry and realised it might be the only comma of the day. I could out-wait it and took some picks of a couple of RAs to pass the time. Eventually after maybe 10 or 15 minutes it deigned to fly around and then, as I stood still as a dead statue, it landed by my feet. This was not ideal as I suspected it would be off the moment I stepped back for a photo. I took 3 where I was, directly above, then stepped back and predictably it flew off back up to the buckthorn behind 5 rows of bramble and nettle pie. Fuck you too and other salutary greetings. I took another 18 bad photos then accepted defeat and set off. There were sanderlings to be photographed.

small white of the day!

Now this RA was posing so perfectly I could forgive the M shaped tear missing from its wing. There is another small notch along at the orange edge but the background kind of hides that. The main bit I would have to spend 20 minutes healing in photoshop at a later date which I did. I loved the background colour behind this perfect perch and the depth of field blurred bokeh it allows. Now you'll have to guess where the M shaped gash was!

small white photo of the day!

I saw several fox moth caterpillars 

This one was one the main path and I moved it off to avoid it being stood on. It was also the biggest of the day. If you handle them roughly they curl up into a ball, so I had to treat it very gently.

a smaller one with hand for scale

Having missed my stonechat pals along by the golf course I now made every effort to get some photos of a couple I saw along the way. I had to double back and clamber through waist deep tussocky grass that jags your legs. I nearly went down a couple of times and struggled and fought for what is a long way from my best stonechat shots. And I only got the female. A while later I found another pair near the  driftwood patio, ones I have photo-ed before, possibly, although they might have wondered why I was quite agitated and swearing so much. I should just cut and paste those other pics here. 

Eventually the male stonechat felt so sorry for me he sat on this plinth and waited till I came along. Look, he seemed to say, you can't mess this shot up. I will stand here till you're done. And look the camera loves me! Thanks, I said, that is very kind. It also drew my attention to the plinth. I do worry when I see things being built along the coast as they rarely improve the views or enhance the natural surroundings. The Driftwood patio was a rare winner, and the Propeller Cone memorial is just within the acceptable limits. This plinth looks like it may be out the same catalogue as the memorial for whatsisname, but I will wait and see before casting (harsh) judgement on it. It will have to be good to match the surroundings which are impeccable.

plinth, awaiting subject

best local art

impeccable surroundings

the propeller cone spyhole

Talking of art, the best dead thing on the beach - a competition I haven't run for a long time - was this sea urchin shell. Hollow and more fragile than bone china it effortlessly outclasses any art I could have gone to see in the entire Edinburgh Festival. Before you say I didn't go to any festival shows, take a look at the delicacy of that piece there and ask yourself if anything in the festival could have matched it for skill and beauty. If it can or did then the festival has improved vastly since I was there last. 

oyster catcher with backing vocals

Of these 2, I preferred the one I didn't expect to. ( ^ )

It was getting later in the afternoon and there was something of a chill in the air. When I saw this heron up to his tailfeathers in cold cold water I just felt sorry for him. I think he picked up my vibes, on the telepathic wavelength, and climbed out the sea. He expressed no sense of improvement but I felt less like a pee.

more curlew pics

they are standoffish but with a nose like that can you blame them?

more godwits - bar-tailed I think, going by the rising beak

Bass Rock

where did those crops go?

good timing - if anything slightly early!
5hrs 6mins since I was 5 mins away by train

all but 14 miles in 5+hrs