Geoff Morgan PSL

I have really got into looking at marine plankton over the last nine months. I’m not sure this will help anyone but here is the kit that I use: a paddleboard and wetsuit etc, a cheap plankton net bought online, a static caravan in the dunes with microscope and guidebooks, lots of time, patience and internet searching to try to nail identifications. Think the paddleboard is quite a niche method of sampling but without a handy pier it is effective. For anyone thinking of doing the same the most expensive bit of kit here is the caravan 😂 Anyway here are some pics from a recent trawl. Generally you’ll see a complete myriad of amazing life. On reviewing these pics I realise I didn’t take pics of some of the more regular and more straightforward things and also the quality of some pics is quite poor - just trying to work quickly taking handheld phone pics through a poorly set up scope etc There was a major algal bloom of these big spheres of Phaeocystis globosa which I haven’t seen since Au...

Currently I'm on half term holiday, and for the last couple of days I’ve added about 10 species a day to my PSL list. These are species that I’ve not seen before or have seen but not made a note of. I’m not focusing on any particular species group or habitat but just looking a little bit harder and closer than I’ve done before. One example was yesterday at Tweeddaleburn, a place I’ve visited dozens of times before, I made the effort to look at the extensive and obvious carpet of moss just at the entrance… l had assumed it was the Springy Turf-moss  Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus   but closer inspection showed it was another common species but one that was new to me - the fantastically named Big Shaggy-moss   Hylocomiadelphus triquetrus . The FSC moss identification course that I attended a couple of weeks ago is really paying off and has opened up the identification of a whole new Division of plants to me. 

In the 1990s Mark Telfer suggested that I branch out from birds and start seriously listing all types of life. His arguments were persuasive, so thirty years later I decided to get started! Maybe I’ve missed a few ticks along the way but,, no regrets, I’ve been seriously enjoying it over the last nine months and am now beginning to really enjoy seeing all sorts of weird and wonderful things that previously I’ve happily ignored. I’ve really enjoyed getting into plankton and other marine habitats, plants and their associated fungal and insect species and microscopy in general.  So, I don’t know what form this blog is going to take but here is something from yesterday: Moschatel   Adoxa moschatellina   a species that was popping up on my Bluesky feed that I didn’t think I’d seen before: I had a feeling that the local patch of oaks near Beeslack in Penicuik might be a good site to check so I chose that as the destination for a short dog walk from the house. Expectations were...