warriston comes alive

 

27th April

After a very slow start to Spring we were eventually getting some decent days. It was a joy to get along to Warriston and see lots of wildlife, which like myself responds well to warmth and sunshine. The birds are all out shouting and the place comes alive. Quite the paradox for a cemetery, but I tend to think of it as a place where life abounds, not where we dump corpses. I think on this occasion I went along myself and then Mary joined me later. I had some kit I was road testing. I often imagine how a new bit of kit will transform my interactions with the butterflies etc. and it rarely matches expectations. This is exactly that and I am reluctant to talk about it much until it is refined, although initial tests are proving positive. Way better than, for instance, the dragonfly lures which bombed so comprehensively they did not even get a second update. 

lots of noisy wrens declaring territory

peacock on bluebells

small white

There were several sightings of holly blues. While it was great to see them again they were being a bit obstinate in flying high and stopping at a level I could not photograph them. This one - a male searching for females - stopped off to nectar at bluebells. Which was about as good as it got today. It is hard to believe after 5 years searching Warriston they eventually showed up last Spring in small numbers then in July swamped East Scotland from the borders to the outskirts of Aberdeen in a bid for world domination. Which included Warriston. They seemed to occupy several tall sycamore trees and their welcome return this Spring suggests they are here to stay.

holly blue bells

nest lining

Mary texted to say she had arrived. I texted back to say I'd meet her under the In Loving mosaic near the War Memorial. For a week or 2 that seemed to be the best place for butterflies and had a couple of resident commas as well as plenty passing trade of orange tips and speckled woods. With occasional holly blues and assorted fly-by whites.

battling speckleds

small (plain) white

holly blue

photo Mary took

So there is the new device. A long pole. It telescopes out to about three times that length and originally was sold as a window cleaning help. I have fixed an attachment to the thin end that takes the DJI Pocket - a gimble camera. Which means I can hold it up to a tree or building about 12~15 feet high and (the idea is to) get close up video or photos of a purple hairstreak (or holly blue) that is reluctant to descend to human level. The DJI Pocket is light and easy to lift on the end of a pole. The gimble means it it is self righting and stays horizontal as the pole goes through 90 degrees from horitzontal to vertical.

The problem of operating the camera at distance was sorted after initial testing went okay but I was limited to starting the video option at ground level and relinquishing control until I brought it down again. I bought a mobile wifi unit that fit on the bottom of the camera and sends the picture live to my mobile phone which I have attached to the near the bottom of the pole. So I can see the results as they are happening. And choose video start/stop options as well as still photos, by touching the appropriate controls on the mobile screen. Seeing what I am doing is really helpful although a VR headset might be better still. It is difficult to know how much money to throw at such a project which might be another dragonfly lure.

I am hoping it might be a way into the Purple Hairstreak problem without having to carry a pair of ladders into the woods. And it is less aggressively noisy and potentially butterfly shredding than a drone. I have not entirely settled on a name for it yet but Non Airborne Drone is an early contender. I have hours of footage from Warriston, swooping around chasing butterflies over nettle patches, but it is fairly boring and not quite the amazing tool I hoped it would initially be. (These things rarely are.) But worth refining a little and also (spoiler alert) I have had it in the windows of the crypts to see what was inside! I taped on a headtorch attachment and I was possibly the first human to see inside the catacombs since they were bricked up. I was reviewing the footage late at night, alone, and as the shadowy interior revealed itself under the headtorch light I really hoped Nosferatu wasn't going to creep across the screen and make me shit myself! In case you are wondering if I am being disrespectful to those interred there, let me tell you the people who bricked up the entrances left the place a right state with piles of stones and what looks like a wheelbarrow just dumped in there. It is far from pristine or respectfully arranged.

small white

chasing whites

crow friend

This comma is one of (at least) 2 riverside commas, just through the tunnel. We took photos as it chased us around the area. Mary held out a hand and it landed almost right away. And liked it so much it stayed for quite a while. If I remember right it flew off then returned to her hand for a second time.

video - click twice

speckled wood in same riverside area

bullfinch (m)

small whites mating

On the way home we saw this box lid in someones garden I think. And then the Frida Kahlo material (below) in Maria's tailoring shop just round the corner. I googled it and it can be bought for about £22 a metre. Not sure they got the eyebrow(s) right? Nice though. Mary was thinking it would make a good outfit but we don't have any fancy dress parties coming up.