OTT about OTs

 

01-04-25 We are having a great Spring. Lots of warmer weather and the sun isn't continually being obscured behind a layer of low, thick cloud. As a result, some of the butterflies are emerging earlier than last year when there was continually shit weather for most of March, April and May. Orange-tips are a superbly cheerful example and I saw my first on the first of April; last year it was on the 19th.

The first orange-tip is the reason for this particular blog since OT aside, it is largely a repeat of the previous day. You'd think after 5hrs in Warriston I'd've had enough and want to look elsewhere for variety and a change of scene. However I found myself back in Warriston and Orange-tips were top of the wish list. I felt sure OTs would appear soon and the wind-shaded grounds of Warriston seemed to be as good a bet as anywhere. I checked the crypts and saw the blue tit (above) was still in-and-out the gap in the masonry. I was keeping watch on the primroses where bee-flies buzzed and hovered.

hairy-footed flower bee

more of the same sparrowhawk photos

Nice to bump into fellow wildlife photographer Alan

Alan and I are both regulars in Warriston. He is more keen on (and more knowledgeable about) ladybirds than myself. I have to admit when there are butterflies (and birds) about my interest in ladybirds (and bees) drops off. Although we can spend a similar time in the cemetery we will often produce different results although we are mostly looking for the same things.

If you are hunting for birds of prey you will take different photos than if your inclination is towards butterflies and flowers. If you are hoping to photograph small birds you will linger longer where they might appear, and focus on the wildlife in that area. Walking briskly will produce different results from standing still. There are dozens of factors and while there is plenty overlap in our photos and subjects, there can also be quite a difference in results as well. We exchange info when our paths cross (rather than jealously guard secrets!) although there is an element of friendly competition as well. On this occasion we were both aware of the impending appearance of orange-tips and I jokingly suggested that if he saw one he was to shout ORANGE! in the hope I was within earshot. I am perhaps more butterfly-centric than Alan, although that doesn't mean I always see and photograph more of them.

there are a pair of bullfinches in the riverside area
snapping off twigs for nestbuilding

I was pleased that the Friends of Warriston did some bramble strimming around the treestump and 2 gravestones near the tunnel which act as good bird-feeders. I have started putting out seeds most times I go past and although numbers aren't up to the previous years there are a couple of great tits, a lone blue tit, a robin, some blackbirds and unusually, a wren that will appear as a result.

scruffy robin at another gravestone feeding table

crypts blue tit

more mistle thrush action in the avenue above the crypts

the crypts comma

the In Loving comma
the 'fresh' version between the clipped and the spiky versions

chaffinch

speckled wood

Orange-tip!!!

I was about to call it a day: although sunnier than the previous day there was also a cool wind that was discouraging both the butterflies and myself and it was a much shorter session than the 5hrs of the previous day. Then, to my right an orange-tip appeared!

I had taken off my backpack to text or get out a snack bar but suddenly there was an orange-tip and everything else took second place to that. They tend to rush frantically about, hunting females for the first day or two of their adult lives, not really stopping to nectar or perch on flowers. Which makes getting photos next to impossible. I had the long lens on which does not lend itself to taking photos on the run. I jogged after the butterfly which flew the length of crypts, inspecting all the flowers, flying by closely, but never stopping. I realised there wasn't going to be a still photo and the only way I'd get a record shot was to point the camera (at minimum zoom) in the direction of the OT and hope it was in the frame and with luck in focus! Not a great strategy but the only one available.

When I got to the West end of the crypts I realised I had abandoned my backpack at the other end, and that it contained my phone, my wallet and a couple of lenses I'd not be happy to lose. Such was the pull of the first OT of the year. And that I didn't want it to escape without at least a record shot. Happily it decided to return to the East end of the crypts near my pack where it flew back and forth while I continued to chase it taking 37 photos I hoped would catch it midflight. The 19th was the best and the one at the top of the page, although it was not in focus. But enough to claim the boasting rights on the East Scottish Butterflies page where I instigated an Orange-tip challenge: to post one's less successful photos, or maybe only photos of this frustrating species. Which, given the flighty nature of early season OTs has really taken off, so to speak.

The orange wingtip flashes makes these beauties distinctive enough to ID from a passing car. Unlike the females who don't have the orange tip and could be mistaken for green-veined or small whites. The encounter was both frustrating but also uplifting. Great to see the main target of the day, even if it mostly avoided my company. It flew up above the crypts where I followed (after collecting my backpack) but an interaction with an aggressively emotional dog of the yappy variety threw my focus and I didn't see where the OT hurried off to. It was clear it wouldn't be stopping for a chat anytime soon so I called time of death and left. I probably wouldn't have bothered to blog the outing had I not wanted to archive the relatively early appearance of OT numero Uno. Plenty more to follow.

lesser celandine