chasing ghosts

 

25-08-25.  A good forecast for Monday 25th and instead of another trip to Saltoun (don't want to overdo it!) I thought I'd do a Longniddry to wherever. Might be NB but more likely Gullane as I had a couple of detours in mind. I felt the coast was the best place of spotting a Clouded Yellow. A couple have been reported lately and Iain C had some great photos of one near the Borders. However they are not really a likely proposition here, and they also are well known for not stopping for a photo. So the odds were well and truly against seeing one. I have not seen one in Scotland in 20+ years of looking. And given we see them every time we go abroad they are not high on my list of most wanted. But given that the conditions were optimal; the wind direction and incredible Summer we've had, they are now regulars in much of England, and the best time of year for them is now, I'd at least put myself in the best position to see one. And (more importantly) check out a couple of spots for other more likely creatures.

I surprised myself by catching the early train. I had set my alarm for 9am with a view to catching the 10.40am but when I couldn't sleep well due to sciatica niggles, I got up at 8.15am and left the house around an hour later in time for the 9.39am. It wasn't quite the perfect blue skies of the forecast but it was warm and bright, a little hazy, some clouds, but lots of insect action from the word go, and generally a beautiful day to be out and about. Within a mile I had passed a couple of finger sized fox moth caterpillars hurrying about their business.

speeding caterpillar, crouching admiral

lots of hoverflies

common blue (m)

Between Longniddry Bents no.3 and the Magic Forest (a mile before Aberlady) there is a small section of flowers that is a good spot for common blues. I don't think it was an outstanding year for them in the Lothians, although much better than the previous damp year. I saw several at this point in June/July and sure enough there were possibly 3 males and a female (second brood) in the 15minutes I took to mooch about the 100 sq yards.

Apparently it's been a bumper year for them down South and in the Borders, but here, more like average. Possibly still in recovery from last year. They were super-fresh and quite lively and my surprise and delight at seeing them isn't really reflected in the lack of photos I managed. I made sure I got some shots but was keen to crack on so didn't hang about longer than necessary. Also I took a shot of a meadow brown which I was surprised to see, although speaking to a butterfly enthusiast in Gullane later, he mentioned a few were about today. Possibly the sun bringing them out.

female showing underwing

nearly all brown uppers

spectacularly fresh male

On a day when there's plenty out I tend not to bother taking photos of speckleds and whites unless they are posing really well. However it helps to recall how many of which species I have seen (when I later pass on numbers to the area recorder) to take record shots like the above and below, to jog the memory later. Quite tricky trying to ID whites - small vs green-veined vs large - unless photos are taken. Good numbers of green-veined about although quite a few smalls as well. 

common darter
- often seen quite a distance from the nearest water

cat having a snooze in a cottage doorway at Aberlady

I stopped in Aberlady for a sandwich and drink at Margiotta's. I had dashed out the door (running dangerously late) this morning without the time to make a sandwich or fill my reservoir. The extra weight is a consideration and I think hurts my dodgy back but it was really just laziness and the chance to pick up supplies at Margiotta's that allowed me to skip the prep. I stowed the sandwich and juice but forgot to pick up a samosa for snacking. 😭

Also the Margiotta's option meant I had to get off the train at Longniddry. I had been considering Drem as today's start. Because the route from there to Luffness House goes past the large barn where the sunlight falls on some brambles and I saw Migrant Hawkers flying and collecting last year. They were sitting for photos and I was even able to put on the macro lens and get within inches for some pretty decent images. It was a spot I had discovered myself and really hoped I could repeat the rendezvous this year. I was a bit later in the month and as you know everything has been early this year, but I enjoyed the encounter so much last year I really hoped I could repeat the experience.

However since I started at Longniddry I'd have to go along Postman's Walk and out the end of the Luffness House estate grounds, cross the road and take the trail towards Drem. I thought I might see some late season jollies at Postman's but there was a stiff breeze blowing across the cabbage fields and only a passing large white. I didn't bother to examine the ivy bushes for late Holly Blues but kept on and skirted the field perimeter after the water tower. Some distant deer and some very poor quality photos!

water tower

bad pics!

I had just about come to the end of the grassy trail when I saw a squirrel-like form flatten itself against the strimmed grass a few metres ahead on the trail. I was raising the camera before I fully realised it was a stoat. FANTASTIC and definitely the wildlife highlight of the day. I see a stoat or weasel about once every three years and get decent photos much less frequently. I have no idea if there's somewhere you can go to see them regularly - if there is, let me know. I am a big fan despite their fearsome reputation and bloodthirsty antics.

These photos are in the order they were taken. So it had a good look at me and I assumed it would turn tail and disappear. (I stood absolutely motionless.) However it began to flatten itself again in the grass for a second (getting ready to attack something?) before maybe reconsidering and making a dash for it. I waited around (quietly and having backed off ) but after 10 minutes there was no sign of it reappearing and it might well have been half a mile away. I busied myself taking photos of a shieldbug which flew past me and landed on a stem of grass. Up which it climbed. I thought it might reach the top and take off again and had the camera primed to take a series of photos in pre-burst mode. But no joy and I got bored waiting.

(these stoat pics got 159 likes on East Lothian Wildlife fb page)

red-legged shieldbug - impressive shoulders!

I hoped I hadn't used all my wildlife karma vouchers up on the stoat. I crossed the road and followed the dirt trails into the woods past a large reservoir the farmer uses to water the fields. It was as low as I've ever seen it - usually the water comes up to the white tarps round the edges. On which darters sunbathe. I could see there were some larger hawkers buzzing about but they weren't landing. I assumed this was the origin of the Migrant Hawkers as their bramble patch is just around the next corner. 

not quite yellow enough to merit excitement!

Unfortunately at the brambles there were no hawkers, migrant or otherwise. Just a solitary admiral. I didn't even check out the beehives another 60 yards up the subsiduary trail. I was disappointed; I may have left it too late. I suspect the hawkers I saw last year were all male and perhaps immature and practising flying and duelling with each other before graduating (back) to the pond to seek a mate. But have no idea. It's just a story I have made up to explain them being 150 yards from any water and collecting around a sunny clearing with no obvious motive. I hung about for a while just in case any materialised and spent the time chatting to the red admiral - a spectacular specimen - and she kindly landed on some brambles to pose for photos. 

early autumnal joy!
a fruit as big as your whole self

I returned to the farmer's pond. His generator and pump chugged away in the corner, slowly draining the last dregs of the reservoir. They'll likely be glad of the rain due this week. I could see a couple of hawkers and thought they might be migrants. Standard ID is to get a close up and look out for the yellow golf tee between the wings. I'll post a close up taken last year. Reading the blog it becomes obvious how far ahead we are this year. Last August things were nearly three weeks behind where we are now. I probably missed the early appearance a week or two ago although I did check out the venue on 30th July and nada. So probably between then and now, the Migrants were doing there stuff. Dammit!

migrant hawker from 10th August 2024
they start off this colour and transform to look similar to common hawkers

I sat for what felt like an hour, pondside, trying to take photos of these hawkers. It was probably less as I'd had a station coffee and was somewhat restless. It was extremely frustrating as they could clearly see where I was and made detours away from me as they passed by. Also they weren't hovering for photos. Also, from experience, late season migrants are excellent for stopping regularly and perching on reeds and pondside sticks for photos. But these were apparently more concerned about finding a mate and starting the next generation. 

Twice during my pondside vigil a female was secured and the twin pilots flew upwards from the pond into a nearby tree. First time they flew back and forth but I was sure they'd land and I'd get close-ups of a tandem pair mating. I'd had this happen most times a common hawker got lucky. However they (the migrants) seemed very picky about where they'd land and after exploring all the lower branches and available leaves they flew up into the higher canopy, disappearing out of sight. No matter which direction I stood craning upwards I could not locate the wee bastards.

After another interminable time taking bad and out-of-focus shots of them flying by, another lucky male caught a female. From where he procured her, I have no idea, I didn't see any females until they were snatched by males and the cellophane rattle of wings alerted me to the situation. Right, I was determined this time to follow them with my laser-like gaze but not chase them up into the higher canopy. (BTW the females looked very yellow compared to common hawkers although the jury was still out about them being migrants or commons. I just couldn't get close enough to tell, and they were behaving more like commons.) (ie badly, and with little regard for my patience!) 

Second pair also approached nearest tree and checked all lower branches. I switch my camera on and rub my hands. They continue to fly round the tree and then up into the higher branches. Nooooooooooo! Then they leave that tree and fly 60 yards across the corner of the pond into another tree. My angry gaze follows their tiny forms into the higher branches and although I don't see them actually land I make a note of roughly where they are on XY co-ordinates referencing ground and tree so when I get there I know where to look. I am determined to get a mating shot. I walk over to the tree and spend 10 minutes failing to see (or hear) anything of these quite highly coloured, large insects. Nothing. Not a glimpse. Okay I'm done here. Well fucked off with this malarky. I consider picking up a hefty branch lying under the tree and lobbing it revengefully into the tree. Instead I leave. Very hacked off.

At a much later date "Obsidentify" identifies these rather crappy photos
as 100% Migrant Hawker. Well that's something.

a common darter on magic margin wildflowers near the pond

back to Aberlady (via Luffness House estate) to cross the bridge into the reserve

roadkill badger 😥 medium(-large) dog sized

gvw

near where I saw the stoat in Luffness House grounds

common darter

little egret at bridge to enchantment

another gvw

only stonechat of the day
I took another step towards it and it flew off

young roe deer

sea buckthorn berries in good colour

There was very little going on in Aberlady reserve. I had thought maybe 2nd brood common blues, plus commas or RAs but the breeze and the general lack of flowers made for a rather barren yomp across the reserve. (Oh and as if it needed said NO CLOUDED YELLOWS!)

The drought had taken a toll and there was very little in flower. No sign of any blues at all. I had 2 choices: a longer hike to the (West) end of the beach to photo waders, or go inland in search of butterflies and stonechats. I opted for the shorter walk although my achy leg was holding up well. I ran the boring stretches although if I got distracted I'd stop and walk, which was lots.

There was precious little up through the golf course - all the viper's bugloss had shrivelled to a crisp and there was almost a complete lack of butterfly bait. I eventually crested the top, past the concrete blocks and followed the narrow path signposted Gullane Point. Just a few steps in and there was an unlikely looking growth on a rose bush. (See photo below.) Neither a flower nor a fruit, it caught my attention and I took a photo suspecting it was something more interesting. It was! Possibly the second best thing today and easily the most bizarro.

neither fruit nor flower, but an induced mossy gall

Diplolepis rosae is a gall wasp. I've never been absolutely sure if a gall was a biological mutation or insect. (Both!) You see them on plants or trees, often as a woody lump or sphere in which insect larvae grow. This particular moss gall (aka robin's pincushion and rose bedeguar gall) is caused by a small wasp who induces a chemical reaction in a plant (most often field rose or dog rose) to mutate into producing this rather fine moss-like home for its offspring who are laid as eggs on a leaf bud.

The mossy gall acts as protection and food source for the growing larvae who eventually emerge as adult wasps and go on to produce these weird horticultural phenomena. Also the adult wasps are mostly female and these females will go on to lay eggs through parthenogenesis. Which is where an embryo can develop without fertilisation from a male, effectively making a clone. How this small unprepossessing insect developed this strategy is mindboggling. I suppose a long slow gradual evolution. Just outlandish to contemplate though. And the strangest thing I have come across in a long while! Not as obviously headliney as a Scottish clouded yellow, but stranger and more fascinating. Someone should do a PHD on them.

small white

a few swimmers today

I hiked from Gullane Point up past the golf course towards the millennium cairn and the houses at the top of Whim Road. I caught sight of a rather flashy small tort who was skipping from flower to flower. I had to do a fast wade through long grass full of thistles and despite my gaiters, quite a bit of jaggy material found its way into my footwear. I couldn't easily flip my shoes off and empty them due to the gaiters which defy easy removal being made for shoes with less sole than Hokas, so I just shuffled my feet and danced the cha cha cha until I shifted the spines to a less troubling position. From any distance I might have looked like I was being possessed.

The small tort was well worth it though being a tremendous specimen. Also it sat quite well for photos. I then went over the top of the hill which afforded quite a view across to Edinburgh, where people sat in their offices hating their lives! 

I then saw another small tort which may or may not have been the same one but looked very likely. If so, it must have followed me over the hill to where the last common blue of the day appeared but lost me in the waist deep fluffy thistles and long grasses. I mooched about there for a bit longer.

Update: having zoomed in on the photos of the two small torts I can see non-matching patterns - they were defo different specimens. 

second Gullane small tort

So, I came down the front of the large houses on Gullane Hill. Always nice to see NB Law on the horizon. Also in the image above you can see the Edinburgh bus at the stop. This gave me a possible time for the next bus, although my preference is for the slightly quicker X5 back to Edinburgh rather than the 124. There are a few gardens on the descent and one has a buddleia bush. There were 2 admirals and another species that flew off but later returned. It looked unlike the admirals but was on the opposite side of the bush and I couldn't see it at first.

eventually got this glimpse of the third, distant butterfly
so, what species do you think it is - you should be able to tell from this photo?!
Answer at the bottom of the page.

As I was approaching the largest house at the corner of the golf course, the huge one in Italian style, I saw a pied wagtail on the orange tiles making a good photo. There were also swallows or similar gathering about the oval roof and swooping down and across the short grass below. They seemed to be a mix of adults and juvs all very much enjoying teaching and learning flying tricks. There was a decent breeze and as they almost hovered on this updraft it wasn't hard to get photos of them. Or rather it wasn't impossible. They looked like swallows although they are surely heading off to Africa soon. Some looked more like martins but could have been juv swallows which look greyer and without the (red) head colourings. Although I am no expert.

swallow

note the discouraging netting

Either juv swallow or house martin
Obsidentify gives a 92% guess at Western House Martin

Someone on facebook was asking for help with a bird or butterfly ID. I pointed out that google lens was a good option to help with ID although not 100% accurate. You'd be surprised at how many people don't seem to have access to google and have to ask other people online what things are, or how stuff works, or where you buy items. Anyway, someone else suggested that the Obsidentify app is a good deal better than google and not as North America-centric. 

I gave it a whirl and although it takes a little moment or 2 to grasp the thing - you upload a photo of the insect, the bird, the wasp gall you require help with, it asks where you saw the photo and then gives you an estimated percentage of the accuracy of its guess. A lot of the time a decent photo yields a 100% ID. I have maybe run about 20 photos through it so far and it seems very helpful and a little more specialist than google for bees and grasshoppers, which aren't such a priority interest for google. BTW I tried the same image search for Bing recently as it was near to hand when I needed to check something and it said yeah I think that's a bee. Which was quite good comedy but a few years behind google, never mind Obsidentify. If I suddenly start posting more named hoverflies you'll know how I came to those conclusions.

I just googled do swallows and house martins fly together and they do apparently so these could be juv swallows or house martins. If you know for sure let me know. I really enjoyed watching them buzzing about the place and it was great light for fast enough shutter speeds to freeze them in the air. I eventually got tired of aiming the camera almost directly upwards and went to get some drinks at the coop. 

This was the large oval roof they were enjoying. Sad to see the netting strung around the overhangs where swallows and martins might build nests. I'm guessing the owners disliked the bird poop streaks they left down the walls and netted them off. The birds were continually flying just below the eaves as if looking for good spots to start a nest. 

5th or 6th small tort of the day!

I went to the coop to get some drinks. (I still had my Margiotta's sandwich.) I don't know if it's under new management or if just really badly run currently but they had run out of water. Sparkling and still. Small bottles and large. The eager dude working there went off to check behind the scenes and eventually returned with 2lt bottles. I bought a smaller bottle of soda water and an ill-advised bottle of coop still raspberry lemonade which was really quite horrible but which I drank anyway.

I went over to the bench opposite Goose on the Green (closed). I am pleased to report that the buddleia bushes there which were pruned v harshly a while ago have grown back handsomely and were hosting 2 admirals, a small tort (how many today? five?!) a few passing whites, a peacock and a faded painted lady. I took photos while rehydrating and mixing the remains of the drinks into my water bottle. The sandwich, despite a warm 4hr ride in my bag was fantastic and I felt so refreshed and replenished I made the mistake of running to Archerfields gatehouse a mile East to check out the buddleia bushes there.

these photos opposite Goose on the Green

love this minimalism

faded painted lady

long road to nowhere

On the road up through Gullane I saw the X5 coming towards the stop and could easily have crossed the road and jumped on, Saltire Card flashing in the afternoon sun. However I think I was slightly sun stroked and felt if there were a handful of butterflies on the Gullane buddleias, there might be tons on the larger bushes at the Archerfields gatehouse. And I'd take my mileage up a mile or two in the process. It would be great. I let the bus go. 

So it was something of a disappointment to see the larger of the buddleia bushes near the gatehouse, spent. All the plumes bar one and a half were brown, dry and crispy. No attending butterflies. There was another buddleia on the John Muir Way but it was mostly in the shade and only had a couple of red admirals. Oh well at least I got my mileage up to about 13.5 for the day.

I was trying to excuse my stupid behaviour as I walked briskly back the mile into Gullane. I had run out of energy and it hurt to run, so I just walked grumpily back and checked the timetable for the next bus.  I tried not to let it colour a pretty fab day out but everything would have been far better (including the last limp home from the bus stop) if I'd just caught the X5.

As per usual, I fell asleep on the bus listening to an audiobook, waking up just about the right place to resume being a human and get off the bus at Abbeyhill. (How did my mind know to start the consciousness up at that point - was someone keeping note of where we were because I wasn't!) It took 24hrs to rehydrate and my sciatica did not thank me for a long day out although I suspect more running, not less, might help shift it.

13miles in 6hrs
another fab day, although various hits and misses


(Third butterfly at buddleia bush on Gullane Hill = another small tortoiseshell)
(of course!)