walls, smalls and village halls

 

28-05-26. Pleasantly surprised by how well the Pitlochry trip went, I earmarked the next decent weather day for the annual Berwickshire coastal path day out. Ostensibly to see and photograph small blues (not available in the Lothians) there is always far more to enjoy on the delightful coastal trails between Berwick-upon Tweed and St Abbs. 

I was a little nervous about the whole train thing having been stung at the marathon and arrived at Waverley in plenty time for a station coffee and to discuss the options with a member of staff. Berwick is on the line South into Engerland and several train companies operate the trains between Edinburgh and Berwick. To make life harder they all charge different prices and refuse to accept a ticket bought from another company. Service with a smile eh?

So while I was able to buy a single to get to Berwick I wasn't sure when I'd be coming home: at 3pm, 7pm or any of the trains between. The woman selling me the ticket in Waverley was actually very helpful and explained my best option was to not buy the return ticket until I got to station and just get one suitable for the next train home. How do tourists manage?

stonechat (m)

Anyway I should probably complain less. It was a fabulous day out in a favourite place and it all went swimmingly. Well almost. Strangely one of the things I was most looking forward to was capturing sedge warblers peeping like crazy. They tend to line the first few miles of the route and in previous years have been very happy to beatbox and sing while I photographed them from just a few metres away. I had not seen any in the Lothians (heard quite a few in Holyrood) and sadly that was also the story today again. A few were heard but none of them came out to be filmed. The stonechats made up for it and as always sat high and clacked away. I saw several pairs today along the whole route.

stonechat (f)

lots of walls on the paths

I always get a selfie in the traffic mirror at the caravan park
three miles in and just before the English / Scottish border

probably the strong gusty wind making me grit my teeth
instead of smile!

ahem something missing?
Maybe the sign is off being cleaned?

here is what it used to look like

I saw a hiker up ahead and wondered would I catch up?
I was doing a mix of walking and running

a great coastline! 
A bit hazy today and not quite the heatwave I usually aim for.

fulmars on the cliffs

early in the day ropey image!

Now there were rumours of a painted lady invasion. Not in the same way as the legendary invasion of 2019, but a decent influx from abroad. I had noticed an increase in red admirals and painted ladies in Edinburgh and the Lothians, but this was the first time it became apparent there were more than just the occasional extra one or two. To begin with I tried to photo every one I came across. Especially when they perched on sea pinks. Later, given the results around Eyemouth, I binned most of these as they were a bit ropey by comparison.

fulmars

Not far off the small blue hunting grounds and I caught up with the hiker ahead. She had gone over to inspect the yellow meadow ant humps. I waved hello as I went past but then got caught up taking pics of small heaths. They were the first I'd seen this year and most refused to sit anywhere interesting. They'd just sit tight on the grass or dirt path making a great photo almost impossible. Happily the one below perched on some greenery. My hiker pal (another butterfly enthusiast) had now joined me and I explained I was trying to get upper wing shots by waiting for it to take off. She asked if I wanted help, and encouraged the butterfly to take off by gently approaching it and threatening it with a finger. It obliged, but the photos weren't the day's best.

my partner in crime helping to get upper wing shots!

My new friend, Janet I think, was a bit older than myself and was also here to see small blues. She had come from further South and spoke of Northumberland and Anwick. Although we found one maybe two small blues in the mini gorge between the railway and coastal hump, known as Lamberton, there wasn't a huge amount of action. I took a few photos then explained I was going to have a look down the Slope of Doom (trademark Iain Cowe).

I had hoped the sound of it would discourage Janet from the tricky descent but she seemed keen and I didn't want to patronise her by saying she appeared too old and frail. I did say that I couldn't vouch for her safety and abdicated any responsibility for looking after her. It is quite an unpleasant steep slope without a decent path and the gravelly loose stones and grass give poor traction. Very easy to have a slip and twist an ankle or worse; take a sliding fall and break a leg.

typical small blue behaviour
making decent photos tricky

We descended the slope of doom. I went first and at tricky bits would stand and wait to make sure Janet managed. I proffered a hand for stability but she shoo-ed it away and sat down to bum-slide the larger drops offs. She went slowly and carefully and managed fine. Although halfway down as I could see the worst bits (which were worse than I remembered) I did wonder what the fuck I was doing bringing someone in their late seventies down a death slide. 

We passed a few small blues on the descent to the grassy shelf about half-way to the beach. This was our destination and I was heartily glad when we reached it. Although I was very nervous when Janet went for a look over the rest of the descent to the pebbly beach. I've never gone all the way down and I wondered if I'd have to give Janet an impromptu bural at sea if she put a foot wrong and took a header down the cliffs. Although we saw more small blue on the shelf than up at Lamberton, at no point did I totally relax or take my eyes of my new friend. Any false moves and the rest of day would be emergency services, helicopters and stretchers and no more fun. What was I thinking?

another two-fer

After maybe 10minutes of small blue-ing Janet made a move to go back up the slope. I made sure I was always right behind her as backstop in case she over-balanced. However she moved slowly and carefully and I was never required to catch her cartwheeling body, praise jesus! I only really relaxed and started breathing again when we had scrambled over the last large step and back onto terra firma.

I hadn't really been able to concentrate on taking photos, but at least we were now going in opposite directions and the rest of the day was not going to be filled with flashing lights and men abseiling out of helicopters. Actually Janet was fine company and more capable on her feet than most 78 year olds. After we had got back to the path I asked her her age because I wanted to report it here accurately. Due to the long lens I didn't get a proper photo of her - apologies if you are reading this. It was a fun encounter but it did accidentally hand me a whole load of responsibility I wasn't braced for.

no need to go cliff scrambling when there are plenty on the path

bye Janet

another pair of stonechats

The day was warm but the stiff breeze meant I put on a jumper around lunchtime and it stayed on. I walked across a field to the stile that goes on a dirt path down to the East end of Burnmouth. It is all very charming and I probably should have switched to the street lens to shoot the village. But I didn't so there are just a few cramped zoom shots, as usual.

decorative birdboxes

another painted lady
on Burnmouth Brae

relaxed seating arrangements

a dead slow worm on the Brae

I had hoped to find an NBA on Burnmouth Brae. All the plants and flowers there tend to produce early NBAs however the stiff breeze ensured there was very little to photograph. 

another Painted Lady

This one I was delighted to see. This is the eternal speckled wood at Burnmouth Village Hall. Iain C told me about it a number of years ago before he and I had even met. I was doing this coastal path as a run and asked his advice of what to see and where to look. He said on the hedge at the village hall there is a very territorial speckled wood. Just the one, and it's there every year. Clearly not the same one (they don't last a year) and yet, it's always there, year after year.

I think it was off on lunch break last time through here but today it was a total joy. An absolute beauty, in peak condition. It sat there while I took loads of photos. I even gingerly squeezed round the other side to get the pink flowers in the background. It continued to sit nicely. Job done!

route around Burnmouth

many silver Y moths about

meadow pipit or similar

I had a look around the NBAreas Iain had pointed out on a guided walk a year or two ago but there was no sign of any. I blamed the strong gusting wind but he has reported them as thin on the ground this year. They took a while to appear in Holyrood but expecting only a very few, I have been encouraged to find half a dozen so far which is about twice that of last year. They are tiny wee butterflies and it mostly feels like they only have a tenuous grip on their habitats. One of their previous haunts in Holyrood was bombarded with rockfall, brought down by the rangers to avoid it coming down later without permission. Nothing has appeared there since. (Edit: one NBA found there in last few days! Hurray!)

max wall 😎

While I saw lots of walls on this stretch, there used to be hundreds of them all along this path. They were still up to their nonsense of flying up just as you get to within photo distance, then landing in the distance where they repeat the game as you get closer. Zoom lens essential. Nice to see them in tip-top condition.

This drinker moth caterpillar was so big it was one of the best things today. I put my large hand beside it but it still doesn't do it justice. I wanted to escort it off the path (to avoid being squished by hikers) so offered it a stem of grass. It had got halfway across the path, felt the warmth of the earth and fallen asleep. Being poked onto a grass stem it woke up and started moving at top speed up the grass and then across my hand and up my arm. Impressive speed. I barely had the time to get the DJI Pocket out (from my pocket!) and get a couple of photos while trying to get it safely off the path and into the undergrowth. I've never seen the adult moths but they must be some size if this is the earlier incarnation.

a huge beast, it wouldn't hold still for a photo!

some odd looking clouds in the sky

Fancove Bay

There is an old stone wall runs up the climb to Blaikie Heugh. You can see it in the distance, next to the path, 12 photos ago. It warms in the sun, while disinclining folk and sheep to take a header off the high cliffs there. The butterflies appreciate its warmed up stones and wall browns and red admirals were seen at various points. Also I clearly heard a sedge warbler just behind it, singing in that lively manner they have. I climbed up to see over and it vanished and stopped singing. Had to employ stealth tactics. I went a bit further on, then doubled back and hid behind the wall until I heard it singing again. I crept round a bit of wall that had fallen over and just caught sight of it disappearing into the undergrowth where it stopped singing. It was not to be. Okay no sedge warblers on video this year, maybe next time.

red admiral

wall on a wall

As I was nearly at the top of the hill I saw this couple of bird enthusiasts.
He had a large lens camera and she had binoculars. 

still hazy looking towards Eyemouth and St Abbs

Now at this point the birding couple had got ahead of me. I had gone through the wall into Blaikie Heugh to check it out for small blues and moths and they had overtaken me while I was dicking about in there. However it was far too windy for any small, light lepidoptera and I nearly had the hair blown off my head. I returned to the path slightly dishevelled but soon felt better as the birding couple had scared up a stonechat pair who then landed very close to myself, which I greatly enjoyed.

When I spoke to the couple at the bottom of the hill the bloke let me know he was aware of this, which I didn't think he'd noticed. I think he said he failed to get close enough for any shots. I was more persistent and prepared to walk over some strimmed gorse. There wasn't much for the stonechats to perch on but they found a few stumps and fence posts and I got a some photos and video. There was a linnet in the mix too. It was all very blowy as the video will show, so it was quite a relief to get down off the hill and into the Contented Sole for a well-earned pint!

male stonechat

linnet and female stonechat

female stonechat - not too flighty
almost friendly, although I expect they thought I was a mild inconvenience
rather than a new and interesting friend

gulls nesting along the cliffs

juv starling

When I got to the bottom of the hill there was another stretch of path between the golf course and the rugged coastline. I always forget this extra half mile as all thoughts turn to sitting down outside a pub with a cold pint. However I was distracted by some starlings sat on the boundary wall. They were schooling and feeding youngsters. 

oyster catcher pitching up on the fairway

herring gull

As I was crossing the golf course I got distracted by a couple of Painted Ladies who were going around the sea pinks on a nearly vertical wall of grass. I had crouched down to snap a linnet perched nearby and close enough for photos. Then I saw the butterflies, in decent nick and just below where I was standing. In order not to get blown down the cliff I lay front down on the manicured grass and crawled forward to photo the butterflies below. First one and then another were feeding at the thrift. It was excellent and only after a while did I remember I was lying down across the fairway of a golf course.

I looked up and saw someone very patiently standing near the tee, waiting for the retarded one directly ahead to get the f--- out the way. He was 50 yards off and I mimed 'I'm extremely sorry, I am an idiot, let me run off in this direction, and do continue your game, I am so sorry!' I was impressed he neither gave me the finger, nor shouted abuse, nor shouted Fore and played the shot anyway, as it would have likely gone way over my head and done no harm. He would have seen the camera and could likely work out what I was up to. Anyway, I was impressed with his patience. I am usually rude about golf and golfers but clearly they are not all bad.

worth it though - look at these golf course shots
not a birdie or eagle but still a hole in one
(can you tell I don't play golf?)

linnet

I nearly called this blog Pink Ladies 
on account of this being just tremendous - far more visually compelling
than the small blues which had inspired this trip

Just before Eyemouth there was another pair of stonechats
who sat very close by (hurray!) and told me to get off their land (boo!)

ground zero!

something fishy in the harbour

ahh! I couldn't resist having a slurp before the photo
This is almost the first beer since the 7 Hills 7 Beers race back Feb 7th.
which nearly put me off beer for life a while

I think the beer was Moretti - delicious! I was slightly disappointed they didn't have Staropramen on tap as last time, which left me leaving Eyemouth in a giddy but very enjoyable state. No bar snacks till 5pm so I sat outside and ate my sandwich I'd packed the night before. I like that it is not a fancy pub reflected in the prices and they don't mind you having a good wash in the toilets - to remove sweat from camera-hands and face. It is a constant battle on a hot day to not end up with greasy fingerprints on the camera.

gannet diving for fish in the harbour

I had heard Iain talk about early small blues off Eyemouth beach. I was pondering where this might be when someone came out an establishment and said hello. They read the oblivious look all over my drunken face and told me they were Mick P - ha! of course. We discussed the important news of the day - Iain's Dingy Skipper!!! and where he might have seen it. Was it a one-off, blown hundreds of miles off course or was there a secret tribe of them living in some inaccessible corner of the Scottish Borders? (He never found any further specimens so we might never know, it remains quite the enigma.) So I picked Mick's brains for where these early common blues might be and Mick pointed to an end of the beach that was now almost entirely in shade. (It was something like 4pm.) It looked highly improbable but I was a bit tipsy so ploughed onwards with great enthusiasm.

not a flippin chance mate

The greenery behind the beach where a butterfly might lurk was in shade and looked absolutely void of butterflies so I pointed my camera where the sun was still shining, on the seaweedy rocks below the high tide line. Where a starling was digging under the seaweed to find sandhoppers which it was popping into its offsprings beak. I got lucky videoing such an incident with the sandhopper wriggling so much the younger starling spat it back out onto the ground before having a second go. Lovely moment! (If you're not a sandhopper.)

juv starling

hardworking parent opening beak into seaweed to reveal sandhoppers

video of birds today, including starlings
soundtrack: Flutter by Renkon

sparrow

more starlings, this time in the caravan park

route around Eyemouth
before retreating and catching a bus back to Berwick

I followed the coastal trail off the beach and up round the coast, next to the caravan park. The sun made everything feel relaxed and European. People were in a good mood, sitting outside and smiling at strangers. Beer and sun can do that. I felt I should keep an eye on the time for bus and train connections but I also felt like I should get some more photos of painted ladies on thrift. There were dozens just around the next corner as the path climbs to the cliffs on the North of Eyemouth. After more videoing and photos I looked at my watch. It was getting towards five-ish and I reckoned the bus out of St Abbs would go past the stop in Eyemouth about 5.15. Plenty time or was it? I turned back from the route I was going back into town and instead retraced the route back to the beach which I ran. It was easy as it was all downhill. I got to the bus stop in plenty time and the bus turned up when expected. Twenty minutes back to Berwick and in good time for the next train. 

St Abbs

looking across to St Abbs

action cam footage attempting to give an idea of painted lady mini-invasion

soundtrack: all in the air by Sebastian Jautschus

Here is the footage taken from the path near the golf course
and up near the caravan park
soundtrack: You Stayed by De-Phazz, Leonard Lehmann

lovely coastal path featuring dozens of painted ladies on thrift
a momentary phenomenon that probably lasted less than a week

I also came across an occasional red admiral

Although I was on time for the train, the train was running an hour late. So I was able to catch the previous train which was also running about 45mins late. The robot announcer seemed keen for us to know it was late due to hitting a person on the line, like that was something to cheer up the day. Like it wasn't their fault and they'd just like to let us know whose selfish fault it really was.

I asked a guard what ticket to buy for this train (several companies ply their trade and god help the man with a Scotrail ticket on an LNER train,) as I was keen not to be stung once aboard the train and at the mercy of pick-a-number-out-the-air ticket pricing. He sold me a fairly pricey ticket which I hate to record was not checked once on the train nor going through the barrier into Waveley. And I had to stand the whole way in a corridor beside the toilet as it was totally rammed. The worst part of the day!

in plenty time for bus

13.25miles in 7hrs
(quite long for a half marathon!)