darters and demoiselles

 

5th July

Today's adventure got off to a poor start. I hadn't been watching the news so was unaware of the Rail Dispute. (Cancelled trains etc.) Unfortunately nobody had updated the trainline timetables the night before so I found myself in Waverley trying to catch the cancelled 10.10 to East Linton, which was cancelled. Next one 90mins away. I asked a Scotrail dude at the information desk where I could catch the replacement bus service and he directed me to the X7 bus-stop in Waterloo Place. That's not a replacement bus, that's just the bus to Dunbar. Reluctantly I jogged there thinking at least it would be quicker than waiting 90mins. However the North Berwick bus came first. Maybe all that running had shoogled my brainbox or maybe it was just fear of the 2 different bus apps (that are supposed to let me know the bus timetables) on my phone, but I panicked and got on the NB bus. A plan was forming where I thought the 6 mile run from NB to East Linton would burn some calories and do me some good. Sitting on the bus I plugged in my MP3 player rather than rake over the advantages vs disadvantages. Also I had a bad feeling the NB route to EL might be 9 miles not 6, which wouldn't leave a lot in the tank for demoiselle hunting. (It was just under 7.)

the small pond beneath NB Law quarry

Banded Demoiselles were the target species for today. They had been spotted on the River Tyne in a couple of places downstream of East Linton. I had thought the new train station in EL would be a good stepping off point until the train was cancelled. The number of trains calling into EL is much smaller than the regular service to (for instance) North Berwick or even Dunbar, so you have to plan ahead. My new plan meant running to the Bandies then catching one of the avialable return trains at 3.15 or 5.15 or 5.45 since I still had my unused rail return to East Linton in my wallet. (The queue in the ticket office (for a refund) was a mile long.) I tried not to let the long slow bus ride to NB shade my mood. The weather was meh (as per scottish summer) with small moments of sunshine. I fought to stay chipper. 

common darter

The upside of getting the bus is it tours round NB unlike the train which sulks in the station before returning to Edinburgh. I jumped off the bus as it passed under the Law saving nearly a mile of tarmac and getting straight to the good stuff. I resisted a hike up to the summit as it was a bit cloudy. The path circumnavigates the bottom of the Law and takes a right turn at a swampy little algae-covered pond under the old quarry. I had noticed previously this grubby little waterhole is quite rich in wildlife if you take the time to bushwack round its perimeter and so I slowed to have a wade through the long grass.

Since I had planned to chase demoiselles through nettle infested riverside vegetation I had worn long trousers. I was deeply regretting this as I had a number of miles to run and I hate running in long trousers. Might as well be wearing a suit. However they were beneficial in the deep and confusing vegetation around the quarry pond. And there were plenty places to soak my shoes if incautious. The thistles and nettles were still pretty bad but not as bad as shorts would have felt. Almost instantly I started finding newly emerged common darters and emerald damselflies, both of which confirmed the wisdom of my bus route! Although why I didn't just get a train to NB and save myself an hour I'm not quite sure. Possibly the free bus ride on my Saltire card.

The common darters were extremely flighty. I followed a number of them with little success and just could not get near any (initially). There were plenty of distractions though and lots of good stuff from buzzing flies and small insects to toadlets and tons of damselflies swooping about. Even a few butterflies. I tried to concentrate on the odonata as I'd seen hardly any recently and they were all fairly fresh. They have glassy wings when newly emerged and it was a shame there wasn't more sunlight to glint off them. I stepped carefully round the pond trying to pick my way between the horse hoof prints, stinky swamp, piles of horseflop, puddles and tussocky grasses. I had fairly new shoes on and didn't want to foul them up early in their career. Hoka Tecton X2. Sale price £55 quid off which made them a similar cost to Speedgoats, my preferred trail shoes. So far very similar to Speedgoats and good grippy treads which help on steep riverside banks with thick vegetation and a fear of dunking a camera in the splash.

emerald damselfly

toadlet on horseflop

ruby-tailed wasp

I was walking past a tree with light coloured bark when I saw a ruby-tailed wasp. I was very excited as this was the first I'd ever seen without someone directing me to place where they'd likely be. They make great subjects if you can get in close. They are very small - about 10mm long max, possibly smaller. Unfortunately in my excitement I fucked up badly and left the aperture at f6.3. It had been at 6.3 for all the photos at the pond so far and was fine for blurring out backdrops and seperating subjects from confusing backgrounds. However when you get right in close the depth of field is tragically slim and I should have noticed this and cranked it to at least f14 if not f22. Can't believe I took all these pics and so little of them in focus. The wasp gave me a couple of seconds before it clocked my approach then scurried about before flying off.

Before I even got near the tree, when I first spotted it, I should have put on the flash+diffuser and recalibrated everything. When going really close it can get dark and dull. (Even on a light barked tree.)(I have done my best to lighten the results in post but the images are poor compared to what they could have been.) I am writing all this down as a reminder to myself so next time I don't rush in like a headless chicken mentally shouting RTW! HURRAYYYYYY! Then fuck it up again.

crane flies in cop
(female is the larger, on right)

The next few pics are all taken at f6.3 which shows it is an okay setting for something as large as a small skipper and does a nice job of blurred background. Some of the close ups of emerald damselflies however were getting a bit less sharp in less good light.

waving hellooooo!

meadow brown

I loved the light on the wings but depth of field rubbish again

Eventually I found a couple of darters who weren't so flighty and would sit still for close ups. Sometimes very newly emerged ones will happily sit on a finger while they dry out their newly pumped up wings. None today but a few who didn't rush off as I moved in close.

fascinating eyes offset by ugly hairy faces!

Chrysopilus

marmalade hoverfly

The first red admiral of 4 seen today appeared at the pond but it was very wary. I had the macro lens on not the long lens which would have been better as I didn't get within 4m of it. I followed it to a couple of perches but it kept flying off as I got near. Then I'd see a more obliging darter or damsel and I'd get distracted. 

f6.3

f14

These (2 photos above) show the difference in apertures. I was scratching my head; why I was having such a hard time getting the wings in focus then realised the aperture. D'oh. Aperture mode seems to work best with the autofocus when shooting macro stuff and if things are going along okay I can forget to keep an eye on the depth of field. 

Eudonia mercurella well camouflaged on a gatepost
I have now started scrutinising all wooden posts due to RTWs!

Delia radicum?

These are the same flies as I see sat on gravestones in Warriston. I love the sleek yet unpolished design of them: like army helicopters or stripped down racing cars.

After about 50minutes at the pond I told myself I had to get moving. I realised it was possibly the richest site I'd find today but I was only repeating the photos I'd already taken. If I was going to find Bandies in East Linton I'd better head there soon. I seemed to be running really slowly; only just faster than 12minute miles which is not impressive. I wasn't sure what was slowing me down. 10m/m should be easy but suspect carrying the heavy camera (carefully) and having a duff leg (sciatica) was probably the reason. My backpack seems to have grown in weight as well. I try to not keep adding stuff (like bird food and specs in case) but there are many essentials and my phone is heavy (has an extra battery/case around it.) Fingers crossed it is that, and not that I am old and past it. 😥

Pithanus maerkelii

tight crop

Eupeodes luniger

As I progressed along the John Muir Way I swithered about the Balgone ponds. I was in a hurry to get to East Linton but there were often damselflies at a spot halfway along the first pond, and an occasional butterfly sunbathing on the hedge. My route was chosen for me by the signs that politely suggested I don't go the straight route to EL due to tree-felling. Why rock the boat, round the pond it is. Only at the next junction another tree-felling diversion and I was directed across the nose of the pond. From where I chose the path up away from pondside towards Balgone mansion. It was interesting to go somewhere new although the trail got a bit narrow at times before coming out at the big house. I also came across a pet cemetery - dogs I'd guess, from the names, sizes of headstones and emotions. 

had a word with these 2

last big hill before E Linton
(ran the whole climb)(slowly!)

I had not planned for a long (trouser) run before lunch at East Linton and was very hungry by 2.30pm. It was a relief to get to the coop and buy a sandwich as well as a couple of Portuguese custard tarts and some grapes. They were not wrong about using the word strawberry and not plural as there was just a half strawberry along with 15 grapes which were fridge cold and fantastic. Why just one of my 5 a day? Were there not 2 fruits? I felt much revived as I hoovered down the goodies. In one, or 2 bites for the custard tarts? First one I folded, and pushed the whole thing into my mouth. The second one I took a bite and risked the shrapnel pastry fall wasted to the ground. While both were extremely successful, more research may be required.

new mirror by the kirk

banded demoiselle almost visible in centre

Next stop Preston Mill. There were a few tourists doing a tour of the mill which is charming and olde worlde and possibly a backdrop in Outlander a fantasy romance chick flick I'm prepared to critique/dismiss without ever watching. I wasn't at all interested in the building but in the water going past it and the metallic looking damselflies that might be sitting on folliage at the side. After a bit of a hunt I found 3 - all male - and realised if I wanted a half decent photo I'd have to wade knee deep into fast flowing water. Then splosh and squelch onto the train and run home with cold wet tootsies. (Did you know the Spanish call toes dedos de los pies, "fingers of the feet"?) I thought I might check out venue 2 before committing to soaky shoes, and see if it was obligatory. It was another mile and a bit downstream to the ford where I'd seen Richard and others post records of Bandies on iRecord. And at this time of the day the miles were getting longer.

as close as I got to Preston Mill bandies

number 2 RA on the trail to the ford

number 3 RA, another shy and flighty so-and-so

I thought when this Audi ploughed boldly through the ford I was about to witness a mishap. During Winter floods youTube was awash with Audi drivers assuming their importance would allow them to drive through deep ponds of standing water resulting in many coming to a drowned standstill as their egos wrote cheques their cars couldn't cash. However this one made it across the river. 

number 4 admiral and the friendliest of the day

a large female near the river who swooshed her glossy wings...

male bandy

someone left a bra near the ford

The only possible explanation for the bra at the side of the ford was that it came from a witch exploding as she tried to cross the river on a broomstick. I can't think of any other scenario remotely feasible.

Trying to get decent bandy photos also turned out a little improbable. I saw maybe 8~10 specimens, 2 female the rest male. However they were a bit flighty, and I was having difficulty clambering on the thin steep ground inches away from the wet river. I contemplated just getting in the water but didn't fancy the splosh and squelch back to the station, and suspected it wouldn't result in better photos. Also the sun was fast disappearing for the day as were the insects. A couple flew across to the opposite bank when they saw me approach, others dived deep into the undergrowth. I had changed from the macro lens to the long lens because they were so flighty. I could see them 2 or 3 meters away but any closer and they would fly off. Quite the faff to change lenses. Then creeping along the bank again and one is so close I can't get far enough away to focus with the long lens. It drops into the undergrowth and appears to struggle so I offer it a warm finger for a perch and it sits happily, gleaming in a metallic alien way. I cannot take a photo as the long lens has a minimum focal distance just a smidge longer than my outstretched arm. There is no way I can get my backpack off and grab my mobile phone or DJI Pocket with this little chap on my finger.

I am too worn out by the run to rise to the occasion, and reluctantly admit defeat. I should go to somewhere hoaching with bandies (like Bluestone Ford, Chirnside) on a sunny day where if one flies off there are another 5 nearby to photograph.

whitethroat

yellowhammer

Volucella pellucens

this is the area I had to navigate across

not easy ground with a good chance of partial immersion

deja vu mirror by the kirk

East Linton might be the least pretty station in the country
- not so much a station as a bleak platform either side of the tracks

I have a memory of the 5.15 being cancelled and having to wait 30 minutes for the 5.45 but am not entirely sure. They have cancelled all the digital information boards and just left messages saying check the timetable. Unhelpful. You couldn't even tell which track/platform to wait at for the Edinburgh train - I had to ask a local. It was a bleak cold wind blowing at the exposed station (on the far side of the playing fields where the Traprain Law Race starts) and no waiting room or signs of civilisation.

I passed the time listening to an audiobook on my MP3 player; an autobiography by a locksmith type guy employed by banks to crack safes when they won't open, or someone gets locked in by accident, or more famously, when Prince (the miniature pop star) didn't tell anyone the combination to his vault in Paisley Park before he went and died. The room sized vault in which he kept all his archived material. Even though the author felt it was the coolest job in the world, it was mostly just getting on an aeroplane to rush across America to drill holes in vault doors with diamond tipped bits so you could insert an endoscope and line up the tumblers. Also he was a better safe-cracker than writer. But it passed the moments at the worst station in the Lothians before the next train arrived and took me home. The end.

11.5 in 5.11