drem to north berwick

 

20-06-25 With the forecast still excellent I set off the very next day to continue the route I had intended to take the day before when I stopped at Gullane. I had been out for most of the day and the bus home from Gullane made more sense than soldiering on to NB. Today I chose to get off the 10am train at Drem and run to Gullane via Luffness and then down the coast to North Berwick.

swallow on the line in Drem

goldfinch

There was once a plan to push through a public footpath round the perimeters of the farmer's fields from Drem directly to Luffness, avoiding the main roads which are pavementless and unsuitable for foot traffic. However it seems to have been forgotten. Except by myself. I stubbornly insist on following where the path once went although it is much less travelled and in places you are left to scamper along unrully field edges or in the tram track the tractor has left through the crops. It is not being maintained by the farmer and I doubt Mary would thank me for taking her along the first mile of this trail. However I like it. More once you get past the first couple of fields and are back on to an established trail through the final few fields before Luffness. 

The main reason is for this is the magic margins; 20yard swathes of wildflowers to attract pollinators that Luffness Farm plants along the margins of the crops. I had assumed it was to keep the likes of large white butterflies off the crops but I heard recently it was to attract the pollinators to pollinate the crops. Either way, the pretty flowers have in the past attracted all the butterflies to these margins making a walk alongside these fields a magical experience. Sadly this year they have planted out this yellow shoulder-high vegetation that is so dense is does not allow you to easily step into it to get closer to the insects. Instead I had to limit myself to taking photos from the edge of the plant mass and not much was going on there. (I preferred the knee-high wildflowers like phacelia they planted previously.)

ringlet

admiral

There is a corner of the track just after a large grey metal warehouse where the sun strikes a patch of brambles. Ideal place to look for butterflies and, later in the year, migrant hawker dragonflies when they first appear (presumably from the nearby burn or manmade pond). The pond - a 70m square with raised sides - often has damselflies around the tarred tarpaulin sides but little else apart from sunbathing greylags or occasional mallards. I found the migrant hawkers last year on 10th August and they looked very different from how they had looked the previous September, when I had first encountered them. 

late September colours     vs    early August colours

None there as yet which will be a treat in store (assuming they return to the same bramble area) and I'll be checking from late July. There are honey bee hives just along from this warehouse as well which I had a wee look at as well. While I was filming the bustling bees at one of the hive's entrance a bee flew right into my ear which made me jump. Mainly the buzz which was so loud I was surprised it wasn't audible on the soundtrack of the video just as it leaps into the air. 

lots of activity around the hives

I was disappointed there wasn't more to photo through the fields to Luffness. This can be a regular occurance when chasing wildlife - an area rich in wildlife one year fails to turn up with the goods in subsequent years. Some venues (like Postman's Walk and Saltoun Woods) can provide "the goods" year after year, but they are also susceptible to losing the wildlife they are blessed with, from predation, too much footfall or habitat decimation. I hope Saltoun Wood isn't changed radically by the all the forestry work and heavy machinery there in the last year, but wouldn't be surprised if things aren't as good as they have been.

I went into Luffness Quarry for a quick look. I had to be careful with timing as I had received a text message from Mary saying she was just setting off in the car to Gullane where she intended to have a short walk. Which meant she'd be arriving in around 50minutes. This gave me just over 30 at the quarry (assuming I'd want to meet up and join her for her walk) and then I'd jog along to Gullane and hopefully we'd arrive in the car park about the same time.

The quarry was okay but not overly brimful of butterflies. A very dry Spring had limited the flowers here which are partly what attract the butterflies. I noticed a DGF doing fast circles but didn't bother with it as it was busy trying to go faster than the speed of sound. There were about 4 or more common blues - good to see numbers up - in various states from fresh to knackered. While I was focussed on them, the DGF, bored of speed trials, came over and pretended to be unaware of my presence, sitting on the yellow flower directly in front of where I was standing. It was as if it was saying why are you bothering with those insignificant blue chaps when there is this fantastic orange specimen here you could be photographing. I dutifully took its photo, laughing out loud at its chagrin at being ignored.

It did the same thing twice, clearly very enthusiastic to be in the blog. Normally DGFs are keenly aware of a human presence and will do everything to avoid it. (The presence, not the blog.)

if this was the only DFG pic of the day
I'd take the time to photoshop out that blade of grass

I managed to haul myself away (although there wasn't much else there) and got along the road before Mary did. She beeped her horn just after St Adrian's church and I hopped into the passenger seat. She timed that just perfectly for me to hop out a half mile later and pay for the ticket at Gullane car park. Good weather for a walk and good weather for Hazel the Ice Cream where a decent queue was formed at her van.

burnet moth and small skipper on viper's bugloss

small heath

This baby crow was something of a tragi-comedy. We came upon it walking along the paths just past Gullane Point. It had left the nest a little early and couldn't fly. It was hopping along the single-track path but refusing to go into the rough and so it was always just in front of us, exactly where we were heading. If we stopped it would settle down as well. We eventually got round it and continued on our way. I was glad it was within the designated area of the reserve where dogs are discouraged. At least it stood a slim chance of surviving long enough to get the hang of flying.

M and I headed to where I'd seen the best of the butterflies the day before. We stopped at the concrete blocks going down the path and there were some specimens there but not as many as the day before so we headed down towards the clumps of bugloss I had photo-ed DGFs at. 

bullfinch

common blue

The viper's bugloss did not disappoint. Again there were several DGFs doing cicuits, and every circuit they seemed to stop and nectar at the purple-blue flowers. It was as productive as the day before and I shot yet more stills, video and slo-mo video of these fabulous orange fliers. They are such strong and fast fliers they come across as far bigger and more impressive than their actual size. And when fresh like this, shine in the sunlight. I am not for making lists of favourite butterflies but if I was, these would definitely be in the top three. They seemed to take a while longer to emerge this year at this site compared to other places, but when they did, it seemed to be in larger numbers. Mary remarked that she saw more on this day than she has ever noticed before at Aberlady and Gullane, and we have been running here for twenty years. 

The next four images are 'stills' lifted from (the youTube) slo-mo video
which can be seen at the bottom of the page.

Of course heading West from Gullane was not getting me any nearer to North Berwick. It was tempting to stick with Mary and get a lift back to Edinburgh in the car. Very tempting. However I wanted to check out the butterflies towards Archerfields and a couple of spots East of Gullane Bay so I said goodbye to Mary at this point. She was going to continue round to the beach, return to the car park and swap her camera for swimming kit and have a quick dip before driving home. She reported lots more fritillary action along fritillary alley and on the way back to the car.

reed bunting

bullfinch

stonechat (m)

female stonechat

painted lady

small skipper

linnet

RA

I thought this crow had died mid-air and landed splat in the car park like this. As I approached for a closer photo it picked itself up and resumed normal crow behaviour. I believe it is how they behave when the weather gets hot. Opening wings and beak to cool down. I have seen this in blackbirds before - presumably the darker colours attract higher internal temps which promts such odd-looking recovery strategies. 

young buck in the dunes

This meadow pipit was extremely annoyed with me, for what, it didn't say. I was presuming proximity to its nest as it almost landed on my shoulder to tell me as much. I couldn't resist a photo or 2 as it was so close. Never saw its nest. I apologised as I continued onwards.

small tort foreground, RA behind

This was the first clump of chinese privet I came across. It grows in chest-high sizable patches, almost impenetrable but when it flowers (June/July) it produces those fragrant flowers that attract red admirals, small torts and DGFs. This was the main reason I didn't get in the car back to Edinburgh. A few years ago the Chinese Privet at the propellor cone monument attracted more DGFs than you could shake a camera at. Every year since I have returned around now with mostly lesser degrees of success. I suspect it is a great place for photographing DGFs but there is most likely a very specific time when the flowers are at their peak and the weather has to be just so as well. Every year I get my hopes up, and nearly every year my hopes are dashed. You'd think I'd learn something from this, but...

life's a beach

another crow (not) expiring from the heat

There is another Chinese privet near to the driftwood patio. Just one DGF checking it out in passing for females rather than nectaring. And a common blue and a small tort. Because (my ridiculous optimistic mind was telling me) they were all at the propellor cone bush! Commence drum roll...

quite hazy views over to the capital

THE bush

So Peter, how many DGFs were at the propellor cone bush?
None (hangs head)
Any other butterflies there?
Nope (shuffles feet sheepishly)
And will you be updating your assessment of this bush?
yeah, but maybe it wasn't the right day?
Will you be returning soon to try again?
Maybe...
WHAT? WHY?!
Because I am an idiot.
Agreed!

gannet sunbathing 😢

Fidra lighthouse

Oh well, on the upside the frantic desire for a mythical DGF hotspot got me to run for a load more miles than if I'd caught the car back with Mary. I seem to have run (according to the gps output) a bit more in the last few miles. Unusually I wasn't racing the train timetable. I had plenty time to go into NB and get a sandwich and cold bottle of water for the train ride back to Edinburgh. I suspect I fell asleep before Waverley. Two days running, outdoors, most of the day tends to do that. Or I fall asleep in front of the telly later. Great day out and some really good interactions with one of the top butterflies of the year, so I can't complain.

Great to get a few decent weather days while the DGFs are in their prime - looking back I remember last year (weather-wise) only got going after the first week of July and the DGFs must have suffered from that as well. I have had several encounters with them in a variety of venues this year and so much so that I was beginning to forget how rare and special this is. (More to come!) A fantastic day out on a top route.

15.6miles in 6hrs (plus 2 in town to station and back)
blue sections walked, red sections running

Below is a few slo-mo clips I took of the DFGs on viper's bugloss. It is too large a video to put here directly and has to be uploaded to youTube and then embedded here. I have stopped using Vimeo because they now charge money for this. YouTube don't. When I shoot slo-mo it records without audio which can feel a bit lifeless without a soundtrack. Hence the track which is A Distant View by Flevans which is used with love, but without permission. 

Best watched full screen in HD quality (in settings cog lower right hand side)