double busy

 

Sunday 28th July was the end of a busy weekend. Mary had been away down South to a conference week of high wire trapeze artists and I had been left to my own devices. Which included a friend's sixtieth birthday party on Saturday afternoon/evening. I can't remember the last birthday party I went to. Nial lives just up the road and his flat has a great sized garden behind it, where gazebos and BBQs were planted out and we all stood about drinking drinks. It was very jolly.

Nial would introduce me to others as the person with whom he spent a week in Ireland painting pub windows for a sponsored music festival. The sponsors had us paint temporary adverts on pub windows (a thing in Ireland) while staying in hotels and driving between cities. It was a lively and hard working week, possibly 25+ years ago and since then Nial and I have stayed in touch through social media. We have led similar careers along the fringes of sign~painting/artistic/visual endeavor. I enjoyed the party but was careful to take along flavoured and diluted beer and only consume a known quantity before slipping off, intoxicated but not hammered. The forecast for Sunday was good and I didn't want to throw it down the pan.

party!

blue sky thinking
taking a photo of nothing to see if there is any dirt on the sensor

Also on Saturday - pre-party - I visited Wex. Since it has been a week or 2 since I last emptied my wallet into their cash register, they sent me a flier saying 50% off a sensor clean. I had made enquires about this previously and wanted to know could I lean over someone's shoulder while they clean my camera sensor so I could see the process, and more importantly how not to ruin one's expensive toy when poking damp swabs into the mechanism. (Teach a man to fish rather than give him a fish.) They suggested it was possible while not being super keen on the actual event and it was never taken any further. However, armed with a 50% off an unspecified amount flier I took my camera to their new shop on Leith Walk and left it with them for a nervous 40minutes.

When I returned I could sense the woman (the one I'd left my camera with) felt a little sorry for me. I got the feeling she had found the sensor was in perfect nick and probably didn't require anything of a scrub and polish. I had seen a couple of anomalies when taking images of mostly clear skies and suspected it was dust or smut somewhere on the lens or sensor. The woman took me through the sensor cleaning process then sent me off with no charge. Nothing to pay was an entirely new experience at Wex and quite unexpected. I still don't know what I was supposed to be getting 50% off.

So with only the mildest of hangovers, a clean sensor and the sun shining, I walked along to Warriston. First thing I came across, South of the tunnel was a blackbird panting. Last seen at the SOC Aberlady, they have a tendency to sit in full sun with beak open, gasping, and a wild look in their eye. Having seen this a couple of times I didn't bother to suggest it finds a cooler spot in the shade to recover. It's probably no different to imbibing mild poison for a bit of a buzz.

reflections of the tunnel

small skipper

After a quick look at the In Loving area and finding nothing much I wandered over towards the East Gate. There is an overgrown path with large hoverflies buzzing over brambles where red admirals and holly blues hang out. Although not today.

Volucella pellucens

speckled wood

common carder bee

over by the crypts I came across this bright orange comma

I think they enjoy seeing me struggle through the brambles for a photo

holly blue

It has been nice to see second brood holly blues back in Warriston. It is easy to take them for granted when they only arrived in force a year ago, and became abundant enough to be considered established. Prior to that they were rare visitors and every one was chased with fervid enthusiasm. 

the crows watch with practised indifference
even though they still enjoy a handout

Common darters regularly turn up in front of the crypts and down by the In Loving mosaic. I have no idea of their origin and assume someone's nearby garden pond. There are areas of wet in Warriston but the locations of the darters are not easily associated with them. 

I approached this female slowly and in front of it, where it could easily see me, and she didn't seem too bothered by my proximity. I had the macro lens on so would have been just inches from her face. I even lay down on the ground to take the sky shot which shows more plainly the missing wingtip. It was still an excellent flier.

Back at the In Loving area this comma had turned up. A perfect specimen. It would fly off, do a circuit and then land nearby again. I realised I might be enjoying its company more than it was enjoying mine, so after a short session, left it alone.

the red lady suitably in flower

I put some seeds out for Scarface and his mum
(In truth I have no idea of gender of either bird.)

a cheeky magpie gets in on the act

a ladybird pupa clings to a gravestone

eyed ladybird

I used a finger to try to contain the ladybird within the sunny patch however it mounted my finger and continued its relentless pursuit of life. An aphid had also climbed aboard and coming head-on towards the ladybird climbed up and over rather than going round. The ladybird didn't seem to notice. The aphid continued towards my wrist where it was slowed by the forest of thick wirelike hairs. Hang on, is that a mite and how did that get there? Sometimes it's best not to look too closely.

aphid and mite? Should that be there?

ladybird larva

The gravestones, particularly those near the large coniferous trees in the North of the cemetery, seem to attract ladybirds. You can regularly find the larval and pupal stages as well as adults. The larvae appear to be so different from the final versions it makes you wonder if they have different behaviours, tastes and outlooks from the final stage adults. These spiky aggressive-looking bugs don't have the sedate glossy children's-book-appeal of their future selves.

Cacopsylla - jumping plant louse

This collection of mites or mite eggs(?) were clustered on the corner of a stone. They were very small. Google lens (a partially unreliable identifier of unknown beasties) identifies these as Elderberries. While I can see why that ID came about (and also the fish caviar close up underwater) I suspect lichen fungus, mite eggs or similar and don't have the time to do a deep dive just now.

an unusually upright fly on the vertical face of a stone
Google lens says Medetera

eyed ladybird larva

larva and adult eyed ladybird

Loricula

I came across this common darter on the fence above the crypts. I moved in slowly and noticed it had 2 white circles on one eye. I haven't seen this before and don't think it is common as there are no similar photos on the internet that I can find. Any insights welcome. Judging by its movements its eyesight was unaffected.

Well now, regulars here will recognise this as an oblisk pose. In direct sunlight dragonflies point their tail end at the sun to reduce surface exposure. This one has got it back to front and is doing maximum exposure to the sun rather than minimum!

I could see there was the opportunity for a good photo here but couldn't easily get the shot without the fence background on the right. Eventually I got into a position but I lost the grass green background for path colour. So often getting the best possible image means a compromise of some sort.

Eventually this female darter got tired of my attentions and flew down 

to the stone edge below the fence. I said thanks and left her alone.

lots of berries out

On my way home I stopped by the tunnel to see the comma and whether anyone else was about. The comma gave me a welcome by flying around my head a couple of times. I put out my hand and it landed. It was almost too close for the camera to get a decent photo. I hoped it would land on my fingers not near the heel of my hand and I only just managed to get a photo before it was off again. I felt greatly honoured.

3 happy hours