success from failure

 

Thursday 11th April was a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. Anyone who has been outdoors this year can testify it has been an all-time shitshow of continual rain and cold wind with hardly a glimpse of the big yellow ball up in the sky. I exaggerate, but rainfall records reflect the misery we have been marinating in, making photography and adventures much less fun than usual. I doubt it is a coincidence my health has been at an all time low since we returned from that trip to Majorca. My back is on the mend but the grievance has modulated into a daily sciatic ache down my right leg stopping me doing any proper running. I have to hunker down and shoogle 25~75 times a day or more to get relief from whatever is going on there. Luckily paracetamols have not been as effective as my squat-and-hoola routine, otherwise I would be well on the way to a painkiller addiction. The pain is more of a continual toothache vibe rather than completely debilitating; more of an annoyance than something that leaves me housebound. Which adds to the general wretchedness of the ongoing climate disaster. I am not talking global warming. I am all for a bit of that, and Scotland needs any incremental warmth it can get! I am talking about the dismal Spring we have had locally.

So once again I caught the early train to Longniddry. The general plan was to see Holly Blues and Orange Tips at Postman's Walk, Aberlady but I realised it was most likely too early given the terrible weather, but hopefully the sun would bring out something worth the walk. I may have run short stretches but a lot of the 12 miles today were walked.

The above video is of a couple of solar powered dashboard delights on a campervan in Aberlady. I often pass them and think I should record them, although it is fairly brief on account of standing videoing someone's van like a psycho-stalker.

small white

The first real highlight was a small white, the first I've photographed this year, near the big white house at the start of Postman's Walk. The big house has some purple flowers on the field side of the boundary wall. They are great for attracting small torts and peacocks but standing pointing a camera in the general direction of the owner's windows like some kind of lurking psycho is not a great look, and best kept to a minimum.

small tortoiseshell

bee fly

peacock

There were quite a few very lovely butterflies on the half mile of field perimeter. Some were more predisposed to sit for a photo than others. Strangely no speckled woods, which I'd assumed I'd see at the far end next to the woods.

I noticed this comma up on a sycamore leaf trying to lick the sticky there but having a tough time holding on in a stiff breeze. It eventually lost the battle and made the sensible choice to nectar down low on a dandelion. In the video it looks like I'm moving all over the place but it was just the branch blowing back and forth.

windy comma

chiffchaff

very ear-like jelly ear fungus

the big white house at the start/West side of the walk

Miss of the day: I had seen a kestrel circling earlier. While becoming involved with all the butterfly activity (and keeping an eye out for holly blues and orange tips, neither of which appeared) I heard a high pitched squawking. It was coming from the trees North and West of the holly blue corner and I hurried back along the track to get near enough to see what was going on. I arrived just too late and it looked like a kestrel was attacking something in those trees. I thought it was maybe being mobbed by crows but then saw both the male and female kestrel flying off westward together. Damn, I'd missed them mating. I assume that was what had happened although there was quite a racket and is that a thing they'd want to draw attention to? I was unhappy to have missed whatever spectacle had just taken place and glumly followed them west, all the way back to the White House in a sullen mood, knowing the chance of witnessing round 2 was slim to none but I was obliged not to miss any further displays.

I didn't even see the birds again but met a few decent butterflies on the second time along and back, so it wasn't a total waste. Also it gave more time for HBs and OTs to appear although both declined the opportunity.

There was still loads more water about than usual and several places large puddles or extended ponds totally swamped the trail. You couldn't follow the normal path from Postman's Walk past the Abbey ruins to Bickerton's Trail the other side of the trees, as the ponds had risen and met in the middle covering the path. A couple of diversions kept feet dry.

Over the other side of the trees, from the field you can see the Watertower, there was a corner covered in coltsfoot; yellow dandelion-like flowers. There were a couple of small torts and a couple of peacocks there, feeding on the many flowers, and I had a really enjoyable time there using the pre-burst mode on my camera that allows you take a burst of photos a second before the action happens. You keep a finger half depressed on the shutter release until the butterfly flies off the flower, then press it down fully to capture everything that happened from one second ago. It means you can capture a take off without having to guess when it is going to happen.

animated photos of peacocks and small torts
taking off from coltsfoot, in pre-burst mode

After the best part of a couple of hours around Postman's, I headed over the fields to Aberlady Reserve. The car park was very busy and I worried there would be so many people there (despite being a weekday) that they would chase off all the wildlife. Sure enough not a sniff of the short-eared owls. And surprisingly few stonechats which can usually be counted on for some fun. Just skylarks. And many large puddles on the paths. I tried to keep my feet dry for as long as possible but after a couple of accidents, I just waded ankle deep through them. There is a freedom in not caring, and you can only get so wet. However an hour later with feet feeling drier again, there is further disinclination to step once again into the cold splosh.

litter pickers on the reserve
a surprising amount gets blown and washed up on the beach after storms

skylark

Approaching Gullane and the dunes and shrubs above the beach give rise to lots more wildlife. I was getting hungry for the sandwich I picked up in Margiotta's (Aberlady) but equally I was keen to photograph the pair of blackcaps below Gullane car park. They were being exceptionally shy and I must have been there 20 mins and only got a couple of rubbish pics. Below is the female, usually shier than the male but for half a second sat on this branch. The rest of the time both made sure there was always maximum cover between themselves and the very annoyed camera.

female blackcap (with brown cap)

Much less flightier and easier to photograph was this Trametes versicolour or, as our American cousins would call, it Turkey-tail fungus. It is a bracket fungus that often sprouts from dead tree stumps. It can be prepared and consumed and has alleged cancer fighting properties. I did not have it for lunch pudding.

I also did not have a swim in the sea unlike this brave soul.

pretty decent (Waitrose) sandwiches,
although the plastic packaging seemed excessive

Hazel, the ice cream van lady, was handing out ice creams to three chancers as I appeared. She was making them promise not to tell anyone. She has a soft scoop and a softer heart and prefers to keep people on side rather than put up walls. (Pun intended.) Were you giving away produce? I asked her. She was laughing at her own business model which erred on the side of interaction rather than unkindness. I had realised a while ago I always stop for a chat with Hazel but never buy anything except an occasional bottle of water. I offered to pay for the youngsters cones but she reckoned it was money well spent getting the next generation on board. I bought a cone for myself and left a tip. It was just sunny enough to justify it and very enjoyable.

On a slightly less culinary note I found this pellet on a bench. Almost certainly coughed up by a large-ish bird, a crow maybe. Whatever, it was mostly eating beetles and orange straw. 

I was fairly sure I didn't want to go all the way to North Berwick. Instead I chose to catch the bus from Aberlady after a saunter back along Postman's Walk and a couple of other likely places. (There is often so little to photograph beyond Archerfields heading East.) But first I wanted to explore a small path that runs from near the ice cream van along the back of the dunes. There are often birds perched in trees and butterflies out the wind. And well, you never know. As I walked along I turned a corner to see a lively little weasel jumping and cavorting on the path. Unfortunately it saw me and although I raised the camera and fired off a couple of shots, I fired high and missed the shot. It ran into the long grass and promptly disappeared. I was gutted. I see stoats or weasels about once or twice a year and have never had any kind of photograph. I have sat and waited 20 minutes for a return visit probably while the subject was half a mile away and running. I walked on for a bit making a trade off with fate that I'd happily not see any holly blues or orange tips in exchange for just one decent photo of the weasel. After a short while I turned and finding the same part of the path noticed the weasel was still in the area. Again it disappeared as soon as it saw me, but I was heartened it was still nearby after 5~10 minutes. 

I quickly got out the bags of bird treats - seeds and bread and made a pile in the centre of the path. I was betting on a keen sense of smell and not such great eyesight. I knelt about 8~10m away, camera ready and prepared for a long wait. It wasn't that long before I saw the russet red fur appear. Two things I wasn't expecting - it completely ignored the pile of food. Couldn't have been less interested, or just didn't smell it. And second, and this thrilled me to the core, it came towards me on the path. I stayed absolutely motionless apart from my finger on the shutter release. As I took photos I could hardly believe my luck. The little thing had a good wander around the area at top speed, stopping regularly to look around, which gave me loads of chances for a handful of quality photos. My heart was thumping! I have included a video to show the speed they go at - pretty much fast forward. I was absolutely stoked. After it had gone and showed no sign of returning I checked the photos, but already knew they were good. So glad I didn't mess up, although the new camera does really reliable animal auto focus and I could see it track the weasel. The first 2 photos I got were of it standing on its back feet raising its head and I was thinking even if it runs back into the undergrowth I still have the shot of the year here...

Weasels and stoats are very similar. Please don't make that joke, you know the one. How you really tell them apart is that stoats have a black tip on the end of their tails, and are larger. I did a bit of research online and there is quite a bit of varying info, which to me suggests there are not that many close encounters despite Weasels maybe being common and widespread. I tend to see them flattened or roads more than alive. Or crossing a road like a bottle cleaner being shot out a gun crossing a country lane 50 yards ahead of us as we cycle. I saw a stoat shoot up a tree in Woodhall Dean, but they are not as good climbers as pine martins or squirrels. 

This one was male - I could tell by slowing the video as he ran away - and the males are larger than the females. About the head size of a large mouse or a very small rat. I read somewhere you can fit a weasel skull through a wedding ring. (How bizarre, right?) Maybe a female weasel skull; I very much doubt you could fit this ones skull through world's strongest man's wedding ring, though I could be wrong. The stretch limousine of the mouse world. Actually mustelid not murine or rodent. Which means they belong to the larger order Carnivora and are more closely related to dogs, cats and bears, than mice and rats. Which makes their diet of mice somewhat more palatable to my mind, and less cannibalistic. 

Enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them, if possible, because I very much doubt I'll get the same chance in the foreseeable, though I would be delighted to be proved wrong. My only tips for doing similar is to wait where you have seen one and stay really still. Maybe bait a place with strong smelling meat? Raw sausage, try making mini mice out of sausages! I don't think this one was in any way aware of my presence when I was motionless, though if I moved I have no doubt it would've been off like a shot.

weasel footage

I took a path to the far end of Postman's walk at Luffness. There are the woods and paths near the big house and it eventually joins up with Bickerton's and Postman's Walks. More waterlogged paths. I tried keeping my damp feet dry but ended up soaked again. I didn't mind though as I was fuelled up with Weasel Joy. Splosh splosh splosh!

more dampness

There is a kind of lawn-ish area with a pile of branches and brambles in the centre waiting to be a bonfire. The birds enjoy this and quite a few blackbirds, robins and dunnocks departed as I approached. The blackcaps were last to leave and the ones I was most keen to photo. Best shot of the day of a male blackcap, at last! They have a delightful song.

Going back towards Postman's I saw a small clan of roe deer in the field next to the trail. I knew I was mostly hidden by the trees so dashed along before they wandered off. They could see me from time to time as breaks in the cover revealed my presence, but largely I had the advantage and got close enough to get some photos and video. You can see they suspect they are being stalked and form a strategic group checking all directions for intruders. They moved off to the other side of the field but it was the final joy of an outstanding day to get close to such lovely animals.

great vigilance

12miles in 6hrs

best day in a long while!