first day of summer

 

Monday the 8th July was pretty good - not fantasic for the second week of July - but passable with warm breezy weather and a clear line of sight to the large yellow ball in the sky which we haven't seen much of this year. The wildlife responded and there was a moderate to good turnout of butterflies, birds and beasties. Not anything like best-ever-July-days but more than halfway there and something of a relief as I was beginning to think we were entering an apocalyptic year of mass die-off and species extinction. It will be a year or two before we know the extent of just how bad 2024 has been and what the future holds, and who came through okay and what species have been thrown into jeopardy. Meanwhile here is some skipping through the long grasses taking photos on what is fast becoming the regular Longniddry to NB route along the E Lothian coast.

There is a spectacular field of red poppies near Longniddry out the train window. First few times I only remembered this as the train flew by and there they were, gone! This time I was ready and had the camera to hand. However I only had the long lens on and it is too zoomed in to get the whole picture. I had a second bite of the cherry on the return journey when I used my mobile phone. 

Towards the end of the first mile you get to the coast and this welcome view of Edinburgh. I think I wore just a vest rather than a t-shirt and was never cold all day. Also the first day in a while without showers. All the insects had got the email about the good weather and were out and about from word go. Quite a few common blues, both brand new ones and ones that had weathered a few storms. You can tell how fresh they are from the white fringe round their wings which starts thick and uniform and gradually recedes and becomes tatty. Lots of small skippers - again the quality of their fringes reflects their age.

common blue

small skipper

this meadow pipit was peeping away
despite about 5 caterpillars in its beak

lots of great blooms

lapwing and black-headed gull

Being a Monday the SOC place before Aberlady was closed so no pretty flower photos. I called past Margiotta's and got my now favourite sandwich Ham Hock Ploughman's. And a bottle of water. Having been such a poor Summer I had forgotten to take my reservoir bladder filled with juice and ice cubes. It has not been warm enough to justify this until now, and I just ran with 2 small bottles of water which meant I got VERY thirsty about 12 miles into the route. There is a pleasurable pain about doing a few miles beyond running out of fluids and then going into a shop at the far end and buying lots of cold drink. Similarly food although it is probably not good to overdo it. (Pictures a skeleton in a desert.)

Things improved greatly across the bridge into Aberlady reserve. More blues than I had seen all Summer combined plus tons of small skippers everywhere. I soon stopped trying to photo each one I came across. Just trying to photo the brightest, freshest specimens, although they are often the ones going fast and furious.

5 spot burnet

A pleasure to see a good number of burnet moths. In Scotland we get narrow bordered 5 spot burnets and 6 spot burnets. Both were about although greatly reduced numbers from usual. They pupate in white papery hammocks and I fear many of them drowned in their sleep in the wet weather this 'summer'. In past years they usually collect in group on foodplants. This year has been more about solitary individuals flying between plants looking for company. Far more seen flying than sat still, but trickier to photo, so I usually wait until they land.

Up through the golf course and the couple of women ahead were pointing their mobile phones towards some bushes. Eventually I saw it was a doe-a-deer with 2 youngsters. They were a bit distant but just close enough to get pics. Interestingly they weren't overly wary or anxious - maybe they realise nobody takes dogs in this area.

There were several dark green fritillaries along fritillary alley. Being fairly recently out they were fresh and orange but also reluctant to stop and pose for photos. I was glad I had the long lens on as getting close was impossible but the (equivalent) 800mm reach gets okay pics from maybe 6m away. The one above was maybe 3 or 4m away.

the distictive yellow and black pyjamas of the cinnabar larvae

So Joni sang "Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?" That should be the theme tune for 2024. Seeing a cinnabar caterpillar on ragwort makes you realise they too have only been out in ones and twos and not by the dozen as they usually are. They do seem to have made a late effort to make up numbers and a week or 2 beyond this date saw a few more appearing. But still. It has been a time of ghosts and absent friends.

Philonicus albiceps - Dune robberfly

mini sub well out the water

three camera influencer!

snatched photo of a DGF having a break

There were far more DGFs zooming about that I ever got photos of. I would see one land and wade through 5m of spiky marram grass only for it to see me approach and fly off 500 yards before touching down again. The downside of a sunny day. Not many are going to sit for photos. However it was generally uplifting to see so many butterflies about. I wondered did the fritillaries have better strategies for dealing with the Scottish weather (as caterpillars and pupae) as numbers seemed then (and on a subsequent visit) like at least normal if not more-than-usual this year. Latterly the blues around Aberlady also reflected a strong year for them. So it's not all gloom and doom. Although Mary does groan when I continually express my concerns and incredulity about how bad it has been. (Some species appearance like coppers and NBAs around holyrood can be counted on one hand.) Everyone in the butterfly community (the humans that is) is going through the same trauma and PTSD / depression due to the shockingly bad year the butterflies are having. At least some species are doing okay: DGFs, Blues, Ringlets, and Small Skippers with Meadow Browns and Burnet moths in fewer numbers but not as badly affected as some. 

fresh small skipper

as close as I got to this DGF

no shortage of vibrant Blues
almost living up to their name Common Blues

a few green-veined whites going about

I have been taking a specific route after Gullane - returning to the coastal paths rather than staying inland as our old route tended to. Just East of Gullane Bay (and the hordes of great unwashed who don't go anywhere outwith a short walk from the car park as they can't carry enough food to sustain them that long,) there is a lovely stretch of path parallel to the beach, but set back in the grass and wildflowers. I always feel there should be loads of blues and DGFs there, even though last couple of times there has not! Come on butterflies! There are acres of lovely wildflowers but apart from the occasional stray blue and burnet moth this has not been as busy as I would expect. 

saw this and thought that looks different!

I know you are thinking hey Buchanan that's not a black bee, it's Tachina grossa, the largest tachinid in Europe (nearly 20mm) and the female lays her eggs on the large hairy caterpillars of the fox moth and oak eggar and they hatch and eat and kill the host. If only I had realised this at the time I'd have made more of an effort to capture its yellow head and sad doleful eyes that reflect the murderous childhood years it has been forced to endure.

6 spot burnet

There is a place along the way maybe a mile out of Gullane where we saw and photo-ed DGFs, Blues and a Hummer or 2, a year ago. Whenever passing I always have a bit of a scout around and while there is occasionally a blue hanging around it has never been quite the same as the time of the humming-bird hawk-moth and pals. But one has to stop for a scan to be sure. A meadow pipit across the way was peeping like fury and I thought I'd approach and see at what point it conceded the territory. I walked slowly and could see its beady eye watching my approach. I took a photo every 10 paces as it will surely fly off any second. I got to almost shaking hands distance and it was still defying me, so I took a few pics and left it in peace. If only all of nature was as comfortable around humans.

stubbornly not budging

Similarly burnet moths used to not give a stuff. They consume cyanide from ragwort when in the larval stage (like the similarly scarlet Cinnabar moths) and if a bird tries to eat them they secrete hydrogen cyanide, which is very smart. Imagine if you knew dogs hated bananas for instance, and you were attacked by a dog. Can you imagine being able to secrete banana paste from one you ate as a child in order to fend off said dog? Now that would be a good trick. Anyway, somehow these tiny moths have worked out how to defend themselves and subsequently don't have to use evasive tactics. Unfortunately this year, maybe because there are fewer of them about, they seem to be flying everywhere and don't always remain in front of the camera to be recorded.

a lone wanderer

Just before driftwood I passed a woman coming in the opposite direction. I said hello as ever and she said without an introduction I've just been attacked by a bloke with 6 dogs. They went for my dog. Her dog looked elderly and they both looked shaken. I didn't say anything, as she continued walking past. She was a little in shock and just needed to express the hurt and rage she felt. If I'd been on form and not a million miles away in butterflyland I'd have suggested she tells me the story in detail, gets it out her system and I could have given her a sports bar with a sugar lift to get past the worst of it. She was mentally wounded rather than physically but I know the feeling having met poorly controlled mutts and the inevitable problematic owners.

When I turned the corner to Driftwood I saw a bloke and sure enough, six dogs at least 2 of which were barky. A manic spaniel came across to bark in my face and I held down a hand and said some friendly words. The owner called it back but he was generally not doing a great job of controlling his charges. I pretended to inspect the nearby chinese privet for DGFs but I was more interested in getting a photo of the guy and his poorly behaved charges. However he left. Okay on the upside I get to shake the sand out my trainers sitting on the driftwood bench he had been using. He was not the guy I photoed earlier in the day with six dogs at Gullane. Since dog-walking is a business that is here to stay there are going to be more and more of these pack type incidents and non-picking-up of dog shit. 

I managed to get to Driftwood before stopping for lunch. I think I had a stodgy samosa from Margiotta's which kept me going till mid-afternoon. I could easily have drunk all my water right then but knew I had a few more miles before any shops so kept a little back. I also took some pics of my backpack drying out on the seat. It is a great pack but it gets soaked in back sweat every time I run and it was starting to get a bit whiffy. I noticed on the train home which was very busy and everyone crammed in. I felt the poor woman next to me might have been getting aromatic waves of old runner wafting towards her. That evening I gave my bag a good soapy hose down. (And myself and my clothes.)

I followed this DGF non-stop through the long grass on its hunt for a partner
taking dozens of photos - this was the only one worth a look

Just before Archerfields, more properly Eyebroughy beach, there were dozns of DGFs (and some burnet moths) on the grassy savanah. Very few were stopping for photos. Occasionally one would drop down onto a patch of thyme but mostly they were flying really rapidly or zig-zagging through the long grass looking for females hiding there. I also found a solitary front wing; presumably a bird had the rest. I took the wing home to macro photo later.

While I bumped into a couple of DGFs on the ground on thyme, there was not any at the propeller cone monument on the chinese privet as hoped. I was beginning to feel tired and pushed on, looking forward to refreshments at NB.

stonechat

first red admiral (or 3/4s) seen today

Round about Yellowcraigs I stopped taking photos and ran for the station. Usually I try to race the last few miles to catch a train but I was ahead of schedule today. So instead I added an extra degree of difficulty by challenging myself to run into town and have enough extra time to buy an amazing cold drink and get back to the station for the 4.23 train. I only had a few minutes to spare and quickly bought a pint of cold fresh orange. I jogged back to the station where I planned to savour the cold juice on the train. Due to a cancellation (work to rule) I had to drink it on the platform. Since it was an hour until the next train I went and checked out the buses. The timetable on the bus stop said the normal bus came at 4.51 and the express at 5.07. The train was at 5.25 but half an hour faster. Any decision was taken out of my hands as neither of the buses showed up and I limped back to the station at 5.10pm since the train would be quicker. I was tired and achy and only just managed to roll down the final mile from the station to home.

an amazing pint of orange juice
after far too many thirsty miles

a robin in North Berwick near the bus stop

that field of poppies near Longniddry
out the train window, on the return journey, (taken with mobile phone)

16 miles (after some faff in NB) in 6+hrs incl delay

Sometime later I macro-ed the DGF wing. It was in poor shape when I found it and worse shape by the time I carried it home in my wallet. It also seemed very small compared to the other DGFs I saw today who have a magnificence that maybe belies their relatively small stature. Also they are four times as big as this singular fore wing. Always good practice to try and set something up and photograph it indoors. I did a mix of stacked shots and single shots. None are great but they show little details like coloured scales and hairs on the leading edge that you might not get to see otherwise.

underwing

upper wing

hairy leading edge