Inneffectual Asgard

 

13-10-25 I was going to title this Mist Opportunity.
Both the Met Office and BBC forecasts agreed an early mist would burn off and the afternoon of Monday 13th would brighten into a sunny warm day. It looked like the best day of a mixed week so I bought the train tickets (£33 for a 2 x 40min journey) the night before. The plan was to catch a mid-morning train to Berwick and then a bus up to St Abbs to photograph dragonflies by Mire Loch, specifically Migrant Hawkers in the afternoon sunshine.

There was a minor hitch. Although the 10.07 train linked nicely with the 11am, 235 shuttle bus heading North, the bus only went as far as Coldingham. I asked the driver to confirm this (as many of the others timetabled went all the way to St Abbs.) He replied helpfully that as of next year he would be going to St Abbs as well. (I put that on the very top of my useless information pile.) However it was only a mile extra hike to St Abbs from the pretty village and would have been a pleasant walk if it wasn't for the mist, making everything a bit damp and grey.

As I climbed the steps off the sandy bay up to the coastal path along to St Abbs I saw large bushes of flowering ivy and thought even in these suboptimal conditions there must be a red admiral or 2 somewhere close by. Sure enough there was and although I took a couple of pics, I thought I'll see so many later in the sunshine I'll not bother much with this one. It was (spoiler alert) the first and last admiral of the day. 

reed bunting

presumably prisoners being tortured
before being returned to an offshore prison

beach huts at Coldingham Bay (DJI Pocket photo)

looking back towards Coldingham Bay

New Asgard as it was called
in some movie I will never watch

Mire Loch

Having seen the forecast I deliberately left arriving till later - no point in doing play misty for me (another rejected blog title) all morning, waiting for the afternoon sun to appear. Only it was about 1pm when I arrived at the loch and there was suspiciously little sign of the low mist burning off. How I would laugh about this later when the skies turned blue, the mist cleared and the late season sun blasted down. I mean 2 forecasts wouldn't be that wrong, would they?

I was mooching around the bottom end of the loch unsuccessfully searching out snoozing Migrant Hawkers among the reeds, when I came across a female stonechat. She was just about 3 metres away and having a good look at me. Perhaps feeling a little sorry for me? (I know I was!) Anyway I got a couple of photos before she retreated a little further back onto another bullrush. I was going to give chase (nothing else to do) when I realised I'd been watching my feet and not had a good look round to see what was what. Sure enough the male was sitting on another stalk in the opposite direction also quite close. I moved in his direction and he changed from sitting among the rushes to looking for grubs on the steep grassy loch-side. I had chosen a fairly grippy pair of trail shoes knowing this loch-side is quite steep and threatens to slide the unwary right down and into the water. I followed him a bit as he rooted around the turf for things to eat. Looking up occasionally to see what the ungainly human was up to. Mostly trying to keep his footing while pointing a camera at a bird just a few yards away. It was the highlight of a rather frustrating day.

female stonechat

male stonechat

I got so close I had to zoom out
to get the majority of the stonechat in the shot.

what a grey day
as Larry Grayson almost said

kestrel

I planned to walk round the loch and hoped by the time I had done the first circuit the sun would be making itself known. There was nothing to be done otherwise. The train route between Edinburgh and Berwick runs LNER and CrossCountry trains, charging different fares for different trains. It makes it almost impossible to buy an anytime return (without taking out a mortgage) that won't cause trouble at a later date. So I had opted for a specific train on which to return. The 17.47 I think. Which obliged me to spend another 4hrs in this place before catching the 16.55 bus back to Berwick. That is quite a short movie in the sunshine. But an ordeal in the damp and cold. I supposed I could find a pub and drown my sorrows till hometime but I could do without the calories and wasn't in a mood to celebrate. By 2pm I realised I had been royally stiffed by the weather people. There was no way today was seeing any decent weather. I had to make the most of a shit day. Hurray. 

I swithered between making the most of being in what is actually a spectacular and beautful nature reserve, and stomping around in a very disgruntled mood. Do these weather forecasters actually get paid for their incompetence? Look! Some reed buntings, and in reeds! I had my lunch sandwich at the far end of the loch. I was resigned to a long dull day by now and just watching for the few birds that lived there, and maybe take some pics of them going about their day.

Mire Loch

Mire Loch captured by the DJI Pocket

reed buntings

blue tit

robin

blackbird

old boathouse

yellowhammer

Instead of doing a second lap round a loch devoid of dragonflies I climbed up the road heading South West as there was some sort of trail promised. I never really found out where it went and wasn't feeling much like exploring. So I took the metalled road turning right at the top and wandered along that, intending to end at Pettico Wick bay and maybe climb up to the Lighthouse atop the hill. Just to pass the time and keep warm. I had already put on the entire wardrobe of extra clothes I carried which amounted to a buff on my head. My pack is already too heavy without filling it with waterproofs and gloves to go exploring on such a sunny day!

starlings

There were quite a few bird species in small gangs around the place. Yellowhammers that wouldn't let me get close, Starlings on a wall and then a troop of goldfinches flew past and onto some thistles in the adjacent field. I looked around - nobody watching - then climbed the gate/fence and crossed the field in pursuit of these brightly coloured jewels. They stayed a little too far ahead of me and the photos didn't really justify the trespass. I was halfway down the field now and a trod suggested I could get back onto the South side of the loch circuit by following it to the point it crossed a very tightly tensioned barbed wire fence. I was very careful not to castrate the crotch of my shorts or damage my camera while high-stepping over this as I couldn't face lowering my spirits any further today.

goldfinch

gorillas geese in the mist

reed bunting in the reeds

a pair of teal

I was on my way up the tarmac escalator towards the lighthouse when I saw that cheeky kestrel in a tree on the North side of the loch. Oh well, I suppose it will pass some minutes seeing how close I can get before it flies off. Not very, was the answer, although teasingly it only flew to the telephone/electric cables a short way away. I snuck up again, but it saw me coming before I even started and waited just long enough to avoid any award winning photos. It then flew up to cliffs back towards the lighthouse which I decided to revisit.

a different stonechat

pesky kestrel

On the way up the road I quietly approached the kestrel who was watching me all the way. A noisy family came down the road. The kestrel flew off. I was in such a low mood I nearly asked the adults if they'd ask their kids to stop throwing stones down the hill as we were in a nature reserve, but I didn't have any great enthusiasm for confrontation and, to be fair, I doubted there was any wildlife down there to stone to death. There certainly weren't any dragonflies.

The kestrel circled round and found a higher more remote perch. I know these photos make it look close by but it was about half a mile away and about half a mile higher than where I was and the photos are highly cropped in. I felt I'd disturbed it plenty and left it alone to go look at the lighthouse which I hadn't bothered with last couple of visits here. (Because it was sunny and there were plenty butterflies to photograph at the Loch side.)

give a paw!

watch out, steepness about!

mistle thrush

Oddly, after visiting the lighthouse and crossing the small hills making my way back towards the Loch, the kestrel came flying past again as if it had enjoyed our slightly one-sided game of tag and was up for another round. I refused to play and instead followed 3 brown unidentified birds across the hilltop. I was pleasantly surprised to get close enough to get a distant photo of one, and it turned out they were mistle thrushes. Right enough I've photo-ed them here before. Or am I thinking of the Pentlands on very similar ground?

redwing

On the way back to St Abbs village and bus stop I disturbed another brown bird which looked a bit unsteady on its feet. A redwing, it hopped a bit rather than flying away, and seemed like it might have just landed after a long and arduous migration. But what do I know. I thought it was a fieldfare at first, another bird that will be turning up along the East Lothian coast in large numbers about this time of year. 

I caught the shuttlebus back to Berwick and arrived just 10 or 12 minutes before the due time for the 5.47. However the loudhailer announced the train arriving was the delayed Whatever to Edinburgh. I asked the guard if my ticket allowed me to travel on this train since it was going to same destination. There was no way I was getting on without permission and then getting hit for another £18 single to Edinburgh. The generous guard said my ticket wan't really valid but he'd let me on nevertheless. I really appreciated his kindness. 

trail back to the bus stop

Especially when I later found out the train I'd booked was also delayed (by 49minutes). I learned this when Trainline kindly sent me an email suggesting I could claim £8.25 back for such a delay if I approached LNER directly. Would I really have the neck to claim back money for a train delay that actually improved my return journey; getting me back to Edinburgh 10minutes ahead of schedule? Take a guess.

The next day I was interested to see a post of several Migrant Hawker photos in a dragonfly facebook group. Taken at Mire Loch on Sunday 12th, the day before I went there (while I was working). This confirmed they were there if the weather was suitable. I doubt I have the heart for a rerun unless Mary fancies driving us there. Although the sun would have to put in an appearance which is looking fairly unlikely given this is Scotland and October. And the forecasts are so unreliable these days.

8miles in 5hrs