best part of the day: a fork on the Tyne

12th July

A fabulous Friday. The weather was doing what had become typical this 'summer', a warmish day with the sun behind a haze of thin cloud. It felt like it could be brilliant at any point while never really achieving anything more than pleasant, and we should probably be grateful it wasn't raining. Cool, stepping off the Haddington bus, should I have worn more than a t-shirt? (Mary leant me her buff which I kept on for most of the first hour.) (12th July and requiring a fucking hat!)

Mary had suggested Haddington to NB via East Linton, and ambitious 16+ miles of rough paths but with a handily placed East Linton halfway for a coop lunch. Walking rather than running and with proper cameras. Lots of potential, a small amount of which was realised.

turning off Long Cram to a Tyne tributary there are usually bunnies

technically you don't need to announce it,
you just need a hole

LOTS of pretty wildflowers along the Tyne in Haddington

goose

black-headed gull

On the way out of Haddington we bumped into George, fellow runner and wildlife enthusiast. I had been thinking we should have given him the heads up as this is part of his local area, however he was driving into Edinburgh today and couldn't have joined us. (We are also not brilliant at getting to the bus-stop ahead of schedule and if the bus had been 2 mins early we would have missed it!)

We also had to double back into Haddington as I was hungry and realised it would be mid-afternoon before we got to East Linton. Many places were closed but a small newsagent general shop sold us a very ordinary white bread sandwich of indistinguishable contents that filled the gap adequately while winning no prizes.

whitethroat

ringlet

coos in a field

Lots (8) of good condition red admirals newly out. This was the first we came across and pretty much the best and most obliging. It was was checking us out as we checked it out. It even sat for a video. (above)

soon it was warm enough for vests
(the buff I was wearing came off)

a lovely field of poppies through the crop

one or 2 speckled woods about

one of those traditional shots I always take of these poles aligned

Eristalis pertinax, tapered dronefly

I saw this solitary soldier beetle right at the top of this stem of barley

and hoped the photo would come out pretty much as it did.

seven-spot ladybird
why yellow? no idea

all the rain and warm weather made for jungle conditions

Ha! Google lens says this is a European Hornet which it is not.
more like a large hoverfly

lots of Himalayan Balsam about
people like to get upset about this calling it an invasive species etc.

I had a google to see what the wildlife police were saying about this weed from abroad coming over here and taking the place of our local species. The most interesting thing I found was that in some areas it is called "kiss me on the mountain"! 😏

where there were trees there were speckleds

female banded demoiselle!

One of the species I hoped to see along the river were banded demoiselles. I saw one a couple of years ago here and people have recorded them on iRecord. And I'd seen them downstream at Preston Mill. Today we saw between 5 and 10 which sounds promising. However they were mainly males hunting the broad leaves near the riverbank for females and would fly off as we approached. There was one spot near Hailes Castle where there was semi access to the riverbank (and a really good chance of sliding into the deep water and submerging a camera!) and I saw a few males and one female but every time I got close enough for a photo they flew off. It was frustrating and made me want to go somewhere with better riverside access. When I did find a small path right on the riverside of course there was no sign of bandies.

sunbathing shrew 😥

another of the 8 red admirals

an accessible part of the riverbank sans demoiselles

I nearly didn't notice this family of (3 youngsters and 2 adults) grey wagtails out perched on rocks mid-stream. I felt that was dad lower and one of the offspring above. There were another 2 chicks upstream on different rocks. The chick was busy trying to get the parents to provide the food they had got used to in the nest. I think the parents were trying to wean the chicks and if you look closely I suspect the adult puts food in the mouth of the youngster but then takes it back out. As if teaching them how to get their own and become independent. I could be wrong. (I often am.)

video - click twice

lots of tiny fish

I always photo this hare which has been well painted

I wasn't sure if the long lens was a good idea today. I really enjoy the macro lens and being equivalent to 180mm it has a certain amount of zoom reach. However the main target today was demoiselles and butterflies and the long lens is better for distant flighty specimens. I am a little concerned that carrying it on a long day out may be contributing to the sciatica problems I am currently experiencing. To which end I have bought a chest harness on which to hang my camera when not in use. So my shoulders and frame take the weight and it doesn't interfere with or misalign my posture when walking. At least that's the hope.

It has also been labelled a camera bra by unsympathetic by-standers. Anyway I mention it because the long lens was too close to get all of this building (above) in. And yet I prefer this image to the one the unsympathetic bystander took on her bridge camera that got the whole building in. Also the horsey pic 2 below benefits from tighter cropping that wouldn't have sprung to mind had I the option of pulling back to a wider view. I didn't regret the long lens choice today but the macro is a lot lighter to carry on a long day out. (17 miles in East Lothian, 2 in town.) This is why I am heartily glad I didn't ever follow through on going full-frame and getting the 60~600 Sigma lens which would have worked out at just under 3 times the weight of my current set up. I'd probably be in a wheelchair by now.

I seem to have forgotten to record lunch. We bought stuff in the coop in East Linton; I had a sandwich and Mary had some sort of chicken salsa with a small amount of limp salad. They at least sold wooden spoons so she didn't have to eat it with her hands. It looked like a good alternative to a sandwich. I also had 2 Portuguese Custard Tarts which are maybe the finest thing to come from Portugal, if they do. Okay maybe they don't compare to the Miracle of Fatima or the drug laws. Of course I am being sarcastic about the former, however (did you know (I didn't)) Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize all drugs in 2001 (while continuing to prosecute drug trafficking). They had a huge problem pre-2001 and now have worldwide respect with a sympathetic response of how to turn things around. To give addicts access to treatment rather than punishment. In some people's eyes this is even more significant than some Portuguese footballer.

another tight crop

Leaving East Linton heading North you are faced with a lively climb up a steep grassy hill. I'm surprised there are no photos of NB Law which you can see about 6 miles away. I was not looking forward to the thin grassy single track path that follows the small burn before Stink Farm. They were not reducing horses and rotting fish to fertiliser on this occasion but there were still a few rich whiffs around maybe from previous batches spread on fields. The following stretch of path alongside hedgerows yeilded loads of green-veined whites, occasional small whites and what were likely large whites although they weren't stopping to identify themselves.

green-veined white

small skipper

juv goldfinch

pair of small whites mating
(well spotted Mary!)

all very pleasant!

Another tight crop. If you want to photo the whole horse (with the 100~400) you have to stand about 100 yards away from it. I had stopped to speak to the 2 horses in the field here last time: they were placid and friendly and I pulled out some fists of long grasses from nearby (their field being shorn to stubble) just outside their reach and fed it to them. Maybe they remembered this and the white one above cantered over for more of the same.

GVW

greenfinches keeping an eye on things

The next bit going round perimeters of fields can be a bit tedious. You can see a long way ahead and so things go slowly. I'm not sure how it came about but we decided to run/walk. Two minutes of either, alternating. We had only been walking up till now and I really enjoyed the new pace and the speed we were moving through the landscape, approaching North Berwick. And in particular the pond below the Law quarry, where last time I'd seen quite a few interesting insects. It was getting late in the afternoon and things can close down after 4pm. Two minutes of running (with heavy camera and pack) can seem arduous after 15miles but you know the watch bleeper will go soon and you can walk for the next 2 minutes before it goes off, and you are ready to pick up the pace again. I really enjoyed it.

At the pond I waded into the long grasses and muddy perimeter looking for treats while Mary did something with her mobile, resisting the charms of the swamp! I had noticed a mallard with young ducklings quietly moving to the reeds and beyond a couple of distant photos left her unmolested. It is late to have such young ducklings and I reckoned they were a second brood after either loosing or fledging the first lot. There seemed to be 6 chicks and they were super-cute being so small and fluffy.

common darter

emerald damselfly

damselflies mating / egglaying

The sun was possibly as out as it got today and there was almost a golden hour glow around the pond. I was keeping half an eye on the time and half on Mary's patience. I knew there was a train at 5.20-something and another at 5.45. According to something I'd read online the one at 5.20-something might not be running. (That ongoing work to rule strike situation.) Mary's mobile info suggested it was running normally. The compromise we reached was heading to the pub again where we could pass the time and catch the 5.45. It was the ideal solution! There was not quite the same spectrum of insects available (no RTWs and fewer odonata than last time) so I took a few photos then we headed into North Berwick.