Pan Species Listing

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 low but I managed to find a small patch - an involuntary ‘get-in!’and air-punch made me reflect that the PSL-bug has definitely bitten!

A quick look at the leaves revealed a couple of fungal species that were new as well - little white ring doughnuts of Puccinia albescens on the stems and underside of the leaves and some chocolate sprinkles of Puccinia adoxae on the upper surfaces. So, three for the price of one!

Comments

  1. Gibster12 April 2026 at 16:31

    Your very first blogpost mentions just three species, two of which I've never seen. Consider me grrrripped! Welcome, please keep up the grippage :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Geoff Morgan12 April 2026 at 23:27

    Haha - will do when I can

    ReplyDelete

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