the North Berwick circuit

 

7th Feb.

A good forecast for Wednesday 7th. Mary was available but had some bad juju in her knee so let me find my own entertainment. I set off with great enthusiasm to catch the 08.40 train to North Berwick. I hadn't been getting much in the way of photo weather of late and today's forecast filled me with hope and optimism, as did the station coffee. I ran out of NB station around 09.15 which gave me a full day to jog and walk around the 18 mile route should I need it. The quickest I've done this circuit was in 3 hrs with Fergus, but that was a long time ago and I planned to go at a more leisurely pace today. I reckoned about half that pace was possible which meant I'd be aiming for the 16.20 train back, allowing for stoppage. I had made the stoppage sandwich the night before. (No shops en route.)

great tit in NB station

blossom in station as well

The route goes out the JM Way underneath the Law. I swithered about climbing it. It was glorious weather and there'd be cracking views from the top; up the Forth and down to Dunbar. More tempting was the probability of seeing a kestrel hovering and hunting voles. I noted it was 09.30 at the start of the climb and about 10 by the time I rejoined the path after popping up to the summit. Was it worth it? I thought yes at the time (not entirely convinced later looking at the photos!) as I did see the kestrel, but it stayed quite some distance away. The views were great but a really Baltic wind was blowing the whole time. Also I was aware of the potential for a slip and fall carrying the new camera. I was wearing off-road grippy shoes but they were already kinda slick with mud. I proceeded with much caution and managed to stay on my feet. 

female kestrel hunting halfway up the Law

I had been considering lens choice. I knew there would be much scenery and it made sense to at least start with the 12~60. If I came across wildlife I could swap it for the long lens. However I knew that scenery would wait happily till I changed the lens whereas anything unexpected and marvelous - like turning a corner to disturb a deer at close quarters or a pelican atop a church roof etc, just won't hang about while I get the long lens out. So I ran the whole way with the 400mm on. When I say 'ran' I mean I walked and jogged. I tried to keep the pace going - it was very easy to get into the habit of stopping to take a photo and forgetting to start running again, especially in the last 5 miles.

looking East to Dunbar cement works

I took the photo above of the farm directly below (South) of the summit. It was only when I got it up on the computer monitor I noticed the large mudpit bottom right. I'm sure many places have a similar patch that takes till early Summer to dry out.

towards Hopetoun monument

Fidra and Yellowcraig beach

Isle of May

Bass Rock and distant wind farm

this place (as photo-ed from above, above) has changed door colour
back to white since last time I took this photo (see last blog)

I took the long way round Balgone curling pond, at least the first one. I didn't bother with the second pond. I half thought if it was warm enough this was the most likely spot for an outrageously early butterfly. 2 or 3 have been reported flying already this year on warmer days, and not just ones disturbed from garden shed hibernaculums. However the biting breeze perhaps discouraged any early fliers. Nevertheless I checked the glossy leaved shrubs along the pond side for a sunbathing flash of red admiral, peacock or comma. Alas none. And first wet foot of the day trying to navigate the large puddles on the muddy path. I was happy to leave all of that and climb up the path on the other side of the pond taking the long diversion back to join the JMW at the far side of the estate. Just around the big hoose I'm sure I saw one maybe 2 jays but no photo worth posting.

cold weather for a BBQ bonfire

I expect that's where they get the name Fieldfare,

and the least bad photo I took of them

A green finch flew up to the hedge beside me and I got this photo before it disappeared. There were a few about today. Haven't been seeing them in urban areas lately so this was a treat.

wasn't sure what this was until much later
what do you think?

I stepped off the path to let this cyclist come through. He was grateful and possibly as full of coffee as myself as we exchanged a few sentences about how tremendous the weather was and how much better than usual. I got lucky with this momentary shot between the trees as he disappeared off.

several wrens about,
not many posing for photos!

goldfinch pair

another greenfinch

There were a few gangs of mixed finches about, or like here, sparrows and goldfinches. Maybe looking for salt/minerals along the roadside. It didn't make for easy or good photos and they would fly off before I got close enough. But fun and cheering to see them.

A robin is a more reliable chap for photos. Their natural curiosity and boldness means they will often come out for a chat if you give them a chance. This one gave me 3 excellent poses in 20 seconds, all lit in bright sunshine.

Winter Aconite

three fictional uses of the word aconite

1/And lo! the Aconites swept across the land and smote the Hittites.

2/ Whatever you do, do not buy a Fiat Aconite.
3/ The ruby coloured zirconia pendant is surrounded with a halo of Aconite

So, the thing about the long lens is if you want to photograph a horse, you have to do it while you are still 60 yards away. (The plume of hot breath in cold air, the flies in sunlight, I seem to have missed all that!) If you get closer than that you won't get it all in. Sometimes this makes you look more closely at aspects of horsiness and that isn't a bad thing. This horse walked up the field with me for a bit until I saw an interesting looking specimen in the next field and I dropped it like a bad habit.

The specimen was a black or melanistic pheasant. I have only come across these a handful of times and they almost always escape before I get a decent photo. So without even a handshake to Mr Horse I legged it out the field and up the road. The bird was walking parallel to the road and I reckoned if I stayed partially hidden behind the hawthorn hedge I might get lucky. I went a bit up the road (where the JMW turns right down a dirt trail towards Stink Farm) trying to get closer to this striking pheasant. Its plumage was just fantastic in the sunlight. They are amazing looking creatures and despite them being not much brighter than their orange cousins, I have been easily outsmarted by one in jaggy undergrowth. This one had no shrubs nearby into which to duck so I got a few photos. I was shooting through the hawthorn hedge and also another wire fence, so was pleased about the detail still remaining in these cropped photos. 

Every time I skirted a large open field with grass or low crops I'd scan for hares. I'd see something half a mile away and check through the long lens but it would inevitably be a stone. I suspect these were rabbits from the way they were lolloping. 

I have previously seen a flock of linnets in the trees round this part (just before Newbyth Mansionhouse) and assumed this was more of the same. I saw various similar looking birds today and was never certain what they were. At the time it didn't unduly bother me what they might be. I just wondered how close I could get without them flying off. They had flown up from the long grasses nearby (big clue to identity) and were now watching me as I walked slowly through said long grasses. They began to stir so I halted progress and took photos from that distance. I looked up twite and linnets and pipits but they looked more like reed buntings. I have only seen reed buntings in solitary pairs and never enough to fill a shrub. There were loads. However the one below with the black cap looked like a male reed bunting and presumably the others are females, which look a lot like a lot of other small brown speckled or streaky birds. I managed to leave them undisturbed and they no doubt returned to the long grasses. 

reed bunting (m)

reed bunting (f)

goldy looking finch

There were some greylags on the short grass growing beside the mansionhouse. Unfortunately as I approached they moved further away. There are often lots near the pond but I didn't see any more.

willow catkins

guard chicken

As you join the road again before Newbyth Wood there are a couple of houses with gardens and stables. I noticed a busy birdfeeder in one garden and couldn't resist going a bit closer for photos. I remained outside the garden but I was pointing my camera towards the house (which was maybe 50 yards away). So the thing about this is, I wasn't breaking any laws or doing any harm whatsoever, but it is one of those things, like having a pee outdoors, that is perfectly fine until someone sees you. Especially if you are pointing a long lens at their tits.

great tits

coal tit

tree sparrow, blue tit, great tit

So I did not linger as long as I would have liked. I thought it better to head along to the picnic table at Newbyth pond where I'd eat my sandwich. There was a nasty breeze off the water slapping me in the chops and I only ate one half before putting my pack back on and eating the second half on the move. It was just too cold for sitting still. And the wooden bench was green with damp mossy fuzz. The sandwich, which would have been excellent at room temperature (extra olives for punch although they were only cooking olives, not the good ones) was more like cardboard out the fridge and I forced it down quickly, along with a nutrition bar, happy to get back moving and hunting for birds.

A small troupe of LTTs teased me while I sat at the sandwich bench. They kept flying close by and then before I got them in the frame they would hop or fly to another branch. It was very frustrating and in the end I gave up and focussed on eating. 

I really enjoyed going through Binning Wood. I forgot to mentally say hi to my dad who is buried there but I'm sure he understands and forgives. That was pretty much his modus operandi for a lot of the time while alive. It is a great place although I seem to have made it from one side to the other without taking any photo good enough to make the cut. The long lens doesn't do scenery, of which there was nearly enough to get the iPhone out. However I was still cold from lunch and needed to keep moving. I saw a jay but failed to follow where it went when it saw me. I heard a woodpecker at some point, maybe not here. I took a diagonal across to the Lochhouses road and was pleased there wasn't much in way of waterlogged ground underfoot. 

gang of chaffinches and goldfinches

first of several birds-in-the-middle-of-the-road photos.
only bullfinch photo-ed today - saw and heard a few more

don't look now
(film ref)

another friendly robin

another timid wren

treecreeper

From a distance this vessel looked like it carried the name Pure Skagen which sounds like a phrase Irvine Welsh might use: ah'd spent all the poppy ken, and I woke up Pure Skagen.

In fact it says Fure Skagen and is a tanker under the flag of the Faroe Isles. And it doesn't look like it is carrying anything from the way the bow is rising out the water more than the stern. C'mon guys you're doing my OCD nut in. Level the ballast.

Again another place where I might have shot some scenery, but was too lazy to change lens or camera. The 100~400 can only do scenery at the other end of the beach, even at 100mm. So that's yer lot! Despite the wind in my teeth I quite enjoyed the run along the beach. However lack of any rocks and seaweed means the place was devoid of birds and living things to photograph. Blew the cobwebs away though. Had the place entirely to myself. 

perfectly acceptable turbine placement
better than in the hills (IMO)

There were some small birds keeping frustratingly far ahead of me at Peffer Burn. I took some bad photos. From the one below I'd hazard they were rock pipits. Couldn't be sure and care even less, the wee bastards. There was also a curlew who buggered off without leaving any decent photos. Often it is much easier to get pics of these birds where they come into more contact with humans (Musselburgh, Aberlady, Gullane, Yellowcraigs) because they largely ignore humans who pose no threat. So although I love remote and empty places the birds there often require a bit more careful wooing.

rock pipit?

the concrete road Tam built
and an oystercatcher holding up the traffic

pigeons on what I'm guessing is a grain dryer

At first I was a bit hacked off Mr Farmer was spoiling this famous view of the Bass Rock with his tractor and load. It was only much later I realised that isn't a trailer of topsoil but full of dirty carrots. The John Deere green in sunlight is quite vivid though, so I'll let him off. He seemed to be working hard up on top of the carrots pulling a tarp over the load. I mentally challenged him to see who could get up the road to Auldhame first. (He might not have even been going that way but that was the way he was pointed and it would have been no easy feat to have turned around on that narrow road.) I won. Yeees! Although I was breaking no speed records by this point.

well, why did it?
(third in a series of three)

The chicken was unwilling to engage in philosophical banter about its reasons for traversing the thoroughfare, but I was pleased it stood on the fence on the other side, for a couple more photos. It was quite the handsome model although I should have left it at that and not gone in for a close-up. Their heads do not benefit from scrutiny, as it seems they are mostly made from scrotum.

too much information

bass rock lightbulb

If Tam still bides here he will be around 88years old. I was pondering about this as I ran up the concrete road from Scoughall, and was pleased to see the sign still here. Stones from that beach were used to reinforce the concrete which was poured in 20 yard shuttered sections by Tam. I bumped into Tam (age 81) in 2015 towards the end of running this circuit. Blog linked here. I took a number of very similar photos in that blog (as in this one) from the top of NB Law! Tam was straight backed and in good health back in 2015 after a life of hard work, but a lot can happen in 7 years in your eighties.

looking across the countryside to Traprain Law

a favourite sign (there are 2 of them, double sided)

There's usually something exotic and worth a photo in the farm just before you hit the main road (A198). Today it was some black woolly sheep and a splendid ram. However the light was mostly gone by then. The all-day sunshine didn't quite pan out and the sun was behind clouds for much of the late afternoon. 

Craigleith

I was jogging and walking back into NB when, around Tesco's roundabout I saw an Edinburgh bus loitering. I quickly weighed up the options: the (16.20) train was not for another 45 minutes and although quicker (approx 30mins), the slower bus surely won't take more than an hour and get me home sooner. Although I had a return train ticket already paid for, the bus would be free with my Saltire Card. I jumped on. Due to a few road works the bus took more than 90minutes to Abbeyhill and if the train had been on time would likely have got me home sooner. As Oor Wullie says, ye cannae win 'em aw. 

Great day out though for the most part and although nothing outstanding in the wildlife department, enough to keep me focussed and pushing on with what was not much short of a 20mile day. I could certainly feel it the next day. Although everything was working fine (sciatica was not aggravated) I felt wiped out, the way I used to if I'd done a 30+miler. And although I got up early for the next day sunny forecast, it never materialised and instead I spent the day at home tweaking these hundred photos and writing up this blog. Feeling my age, haha!

17.4miles before I caught the bus, 
plus 1mile to Waverley and 2/3rds back from Abbeyhill