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18th August

The next trip of several to Saltoun Big Wood. A little improvement on the last trip here, but still too early to get the full experience. On this occasion Mary drove us there in the Berlingo. We parked down in West Saltoun and walked up the road. The weather was okay, neither brilliant nor dismal. I am wearing long trousers as protection against the brambles and undergrowth at the first pond which is considerable. And also against the ticks, which aren't as bad as previous years, but I still usually manage to bring home one or 2.

peacock on teasel

the first pond seemed quite quiet so we wandered up to the large one on the right

a handsome common darter
on the logs at the north side of the pond

very likely a southern hawker
rather than a common hawker

So by this point I am kneeling in pondside mud / grass mix and put my hand onto the log to get a solid point of contact. The darter takes off and then lands on my fingers, which I took as a gesture of friendship. It kept returning to the log while dodging hawker patrols round the pond perimeter. I was pleased to get an in-flight shot as they are small and quite nippy and don't hang about. Nice to see the sun out - let's go chase butterflies!

lots of peacocks

occasional speckled woods

the last of the small skippers

take off!

one of the few commas today

in a week's time they will arrive in force

 a few admirals about

Mary will often hold out a hand and see if there are any takers. It doesn't work here as often as in town and I wonder if proximity to human company makes our Warriston butterflies tamer than these country versions. For flighty creatures like otters, kingfishers and the like, you are more likely to see them in an urban environment than in a rural area. Perhaps the same with butterflies. I had a comma land on my hand here, after I had eaten a sports bar with sticky icing, a couple of years ago but can't think of many interactions here with them other than me moving in for a close up, and them flying off! 

Here's a pic (thoughtfully taken by Mary!)
of an old man scrabbling on the ground...

That may well be the photo (below) I took while down there - it really helps to get down to their level and often makes the background better. And is quite good for your health to be able to get up and down without thinking about it or making too many groaning noises. I am approaching the age where I don't always take this for granted and can appreciate a work life that had me jumping up ladders and getting down on all fours to prepare skirting boards. I got out before I ruined my knees (the fate of a lot of carpet fitters I believe) and enjoy a roll in the long grass, dirt and pondside mud as much as (maybe a bit more than) the next man.

one of several walls we saw, a female

speckled wood

the only small copper of the day
worth the chase!

Mary wanders off into the undergrowth

the admirals were quite flighty
and would frequently fly off up into the arms of the nearest pine tree

 peacocks littering the path
really good numbers of them

a robin
while the woods are quite busy with birdsong we saw very few

lunchtime log - at the highpoint of the circuit

It wasn't the warmest of Summer days - you can tell by the longsleeved top I am wearing. We planned ahead, anticipating what we'd most like for lunch. I think Mary suggested hot cups of tea. Rather than fill the family sized flask (I take sugar, Mary doesn't) we took these cup flasks and it totally hit the spot. A lovely hot cup of sugary tea in the woods. My oh my! Homemade sandwiches as no shops nearby. And little tomatoes.

The devil's bit scabious is the reason Saltoun becomes one of the best butterfly hotspots in Scotland in late August / early September. The purple flowering plants sprout thousands of small blooms on long stalks that pull the butterflies out the wood and concentrate them here, all along the path. Does every wood contain this amount of peacocks, admirals and commas? I doubt it. And so the food source must promote the numbers, enhance the lifeforce. A friend who cycled through the wood a couple of years back, unexpectedly hitting the butterfly clouds that swoop and whirl about September, described it like being in a Disney movie. It is a spectacle worth makng an effort to witness and I find it gives me such a blast of butterfly saturation that I feel I can get through the long Winter's months on the memory of it.

peacock

on cooler days the butterflies will sit on the warmed path and stones

Checking out the woodpile near the second pond we came across a few grasshoppers. I experimented with focus stacking but I think the low light conditions made the single f/20 shots as good as any of the stacked and processed shots. Trying to sidle up to one, it took a shine to my purple top and jumped onto my arm. 

Noon fly, Mesembrina meridiana
one I don't recall seeing before

either Northern or Azure damselfly (or Common!)

These might be Conops quadrifasciatus, another parasitic wasp that grabs bumblebees and implants their eggs into them which eventually kill the bee. They presumably have a grabbing instinct which shows here. The top one eventually flew off. Not sure if the lower 2 were actually mating or just going through the motions.

Back to the first pond and I wasn't sure how long I could test Mary's patience. However she seemed to be quite enjoying the serene surroundings and didn't suggest we head off. I wandered round the wet side of the pond looking for dragonflies and anything of interest. There always seems to be more activity on the side of the pond which you don't occupy. The grass being greener etc. Dragonflies have very good eyesight and probably avoid large, moving could-be-predators. They have had hundreds of millions of years to hone their instincts and it has worked well for them.

photo Mary

The first pond has had quite a high water-level this year after a very wet Spring and early Summer. The trees round the edge are growing quickly and form a barrier where once there was a small clear path round the edge. Consequently there is only a small damp perimeter round the pond with very slippy mud and sparse vegetation that lies in wait like a perfect trap for expensive cameras. Be very careful if you venture round. Or wear wellies with good grips and wade round the shallow water. Alistair's corner (just left of where I am in the photo above) is unsuitable to take a chair as he was inclined to do in previous years, as it would sink into the reeds and water. Which is a shame because the reeds there encourage the hawkers etc. to patrol and search, and is one of the better places to try to photo them in flight.

emerald damselfly

I was so busy aligning the bokeh here
I didn't notice the focus was drifting off the damselfly's head 

okay time to go!

On the way out we came across these mating walls. The female (open wings) was larger than the male and did the flying for both of them. I failed to get a decent photo showing them both clearly and didn't want to chase them at the expense of splitting them up.

a reluctant large white

An enjoyable day out but the next couple of visits would find the place much busier!