Geoff Morgan
@moorfoots2peasebay.bsky.social
Birder and pan species lister based in Penicuik and most likely to be found in the Moorfoots in Midlothian or at Pease Bay in Scottish Borders
@elizabethbeston.bsky.social I wonder if you’d be able to point me in the right direction in the identification of a variety of copepods - all from Inshore plankton trawls from a paddle board in southeast Scotland - no recent samples as the sea’s been a little rough - so I’m trawling pics instead!
December 13, 2025 at 10:15 PM
@elizabethbeston.bsky.social I wonder if you’d be able to point me in the right direction in the identification of a variety of copepods - all from Inshore plankton trawls from a paddle board in southeast Scotland - no recent samples as the sea’s been a little rough - so I’m trawling pics instead!
My first check for the winter this morning and at least three of the usual Woodcock are in their usual spots - all viewable from the car and all drive-away views - this pic does not do the bird justice… #birdingScotland
December 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
My first check for the winter this morning and at least three of the usual Woodcock are in their usual spots - all viewable from the car and all drive-away views - this pic does not do the bird justice… #birdingScotland
Fairly wild seas at Pease Bay this morning- couldn’t pick out any Little Auks offshore but GnD, RtD, RbM and Common Scoters were nice. Best was a Water Pipit on the beach at the mouth of the Pease Dean Burn - it headed high and S before pics unfortunately #scottishbirding
November 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Fairly wild seas at Pease Bay this morning- couldn’t pick out any Little Auks offshore but GnD, RtD, RbM and Common Scoters were nice. Best was a Water Pipit on the beach at the mouth of the Pease Dean Burn - it headed high and S before pics unfortunately #scottishbirding
Two highlights at Pease Bay yesterday both patch firsts for me: Cuckoo Ray - sadly dead - but not commonly reported at the shore otherwise as it is a deeper water species. Little Egret rockpooling with me 😁
November 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Two highlights at Pease Bay yesterday both patch firsts for me: Cuckoo Ray - sadly dead - but not commonly reported at the shore otherwise as it is a deeper water species. Little Egret rockpooling with me 😁
Not often I see a Ribbonworm but bizarrely managed to see three Nemerteans this weekend. Horsehair worm in the Moorfoots- Gordius aquaticus presumably based on microscopic pic. Then Bootlace Worm Lineus longissimus and Tetrastemma vermiculus at Pease Bay. The last species a first for Scotland?
November 9, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Not often I see a Ribbonworm but bizarrely managed to see three Nemerteans this weekend. Horsehair worm in the Moorfoots- Gordius aquaticus presumably based on microscopic pic. Then Bootlace Worm Lineus longissimus and Tetrastemma vermiculus at Pease Bay. The last species a first for Scotland?
A couple of eriophyoid mites from the underside of leaves - Acalitus essigi on bramble and Phyllocoptes gracilis on wild Raspberry. Two truly tiny species but both seemed fairly abundant on those species. Happy to take feedback on the identifications…
October 28, 2025 at 12:15 AM
A couple of eriophyoid mites from the underside of leaves - Acalitus essigi on bramble and Phyllocoptes gracilis on wild Raspberry. Two truly tiny species but both seemed fairly abundant on those species. Happy to take feedback on the identifications…
Had a look under a bramble leaf through the microscope- not only my first Sitobion fragariae aphids in amongst the Phragmidium bulbosum rust but also some larvae that look like Aphidoletini and some predatory Acari running around… it’s a jungle out there!…
October 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Had a look under a bramble leaf through the microscope- not only my first Sitobion fragariae aphids in amongst the Phragmidium bulbosum rust but also some larvae that look like Aphidoletini and some predatory Acari running around… it’s a jungle out there!…
Some fantastic local wildlife this week hitting +2000 on my PSL and with my first sightings of an aeolid nudibranch (the Crowned Aeolis) and a pseudoscorpion (the Moss Neobisid) - both on my most wanted list. Honorary mentions to the Flabby Bristle-worm and the Red-cracking Bolete - crazy names! 😁
October 22, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Some fantastic local wildlife this week hitting +2000 on my PSL and with my first sightings of an aeolid nudibranch (the Crowned Aeolis) and a pseudoscorpion (the Moss Neobisid) - both on my most wanted list. Honorary mentions to the Flabby Bristle-worm and the Red-cracking Bolete - crazy names! 😁
Anyone able to put a species to this louse? It looks as though it should be straightforward but I’m not managing to nail it and I’m wondering if I’m barking up the wrong tree @persmiseth.bsky.social @norwichbirder.bsky.social @thegibster.bsky.social
October 19, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Anyone able to put a species to this louse? It looks as though it should be straightforward but I’m not managing to nail it and I’m wondering if I’m barking up the wrong tree @persmiseth.bsky.social @norwichbirder.bsky.social @thegibster.bsky.social
Surprised to see a Great Northern Diver in Pease Bay this afternoon looking pretty smart and spangled above. Maybe the great northern Aurora Borealis that we had here last night brought it south 🙃 #aurora
October 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Surprised to see a Great Northern Diver in Pease Bay this afternoon looking pretty smart and spangled above. Maybe the great northern Aurora Borealis that we had here last night brought it south 🙃 #aurora
A strikingly yellow veliger in yesterday’s plankton trawl off Pease Bay - presumably bioluminescent. Not sure if this larval snail is identifiable to species but it was pretty stunning to look at #plankton #veliger #bioluminescence #gastropods
October 18, 2025 at 6:13 AM
A strikingly yellow veliger in yesterday’s plankton trawl off Pease Bay - presumably bioluminescent. Not sure if this larval snail is identifiable to species but it was pretty stunning to look at #plankton #veliger #bioluminescence #gastropods
Couldn’t refind the LWFG this evening. Lots of PfGs around and at least 30 Barnacle Geese in the area. Best was this Scaup on Rosebery Reservoir #birdinglothian
September 29, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Couldn’t refind the LWFG this evening. Lots of PfGs around and at least 30 Barnacle Geese in the area. Best was this Scaup on Rosebery Reservoir #birdinglothian
Here’s a distant pic of today’s v unexpected Lesser White-fronted Goose (found at Caspian Pool by another observer earlier today). This pic from half a mile away when @denmor77.bsky.social and I were relocating it - we saw it much closer later on and Den’s got some great flightshots #birdingscotland
September 28, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Here’s a distant pic of today’s v unexpected Lesser White-fronted Goose (found at Caspian Pool by another observer earlier today). This pic from half a mile away when @denmor77.bsky.social and I were relocating it - we saw it much closer later on and Den’s got some great flightshots #birdingscotland
Minke Whale distantly from Pease Bay yesterday morning
September 7, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Minke Whale distantly from Pease Bay yesterday morning
Was very pleased to find this massive Stentor coeruleus in a pond in Edinburgh yesterday- it’s not often you see bright blue single celled organism that’s visible to the naked eye #protist #panspecieslisting
September 3, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Was very pleased to find this massive Stentor coeruleus in a pond in Edinburgh yesterday- it’s not often you see bright blue single celled organism that’s visible to the naked eye #protist #panspecieslisting
@elizabethbeston.bsky.social Any idea what this is? In a plankton trawl that I took from my paddleboard in Scottish Borders at the weekend
August 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM
@elizabethbeston.bsky.social Any idea what this is? In a plankton trawl that I took from my paddleboard in Scottish Borders at the weekend
As usual at this time of year I’ve been enjoying seawatching through the scope - only difference is that it’s the microscope 🔬 this year! Here’s some recent sightings: a Foraminifera, an Arrowworm, a Dinoflagellate - all of these were new Phyla for me…
August 26, 2025 at 5:41 AM
As usual at this time of year I’ve been enjoying seawatching through the scope - only difference is that it’s the microscope 🔬 this year! Here’s some recent sightings: a Foraminifera, an Arrowworm, a Dinoflagellate - all of these were new Phyla for me…
Nothing of note in the moth trap this morning so went off for a rock pooling session as the tide dropped - and bumped into a Rush Veneer (NFM) Pease Bay, Scottish Borders #teammoth
August 11, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Nothing of note in the moth trap this morning so went off for a rock pooling session as the tide dropped - and bumped into a Rush Veneer (NFM) Pease Bay, Scottish Borders #teammoth
I was looking at barnacle exuvia through the microscope today when I noticed these (protozoa?) crashing around - wondered whether they are Ebria tripartia- anyone know? #plankton
August 4, 2025 at 10:02 PM
I was looking at barnacle exuvia through the microscope today when I noticed these (protozoa?) crashing around - wondered whether they are Ebria tripartia- anyone know? #plankton
A few more coelenterates from Pease Bay, Scottish Borders: the first Lion’s Mane Jelly of the year have appeared and the kelp is now covered in the hydrozoan Obelia geniculata. Last few days the sea is full of the small hydroid Leuckartiara octona - a couple of pics to show variation #jellyfish
July 23, 2025 at 10:56 PM
A few more coelenterates from Pease Bay, Scottish Borders: the first Lion’s Mane Jelly of the year have appeared and the kelp is now covered in the hydrozoan Obelia geniculata. Last few days the sea is full of the small hydroid Leuckartiara octona - a couple of pics to show variation #jellyfish
I was lucky enough to spend some time in Mauritius recently and was snorkeling every day. I’ve seriously have had my mind blown by how many species of fish have different colour forms and how some literally change colour in front of your eyes! I’m going to (slowly) make a thread of some examples…
July 13, 2025 at 8:43 AM
I was lucky enough to spend some time in Mauritius recently and was snorkeling every day. I’ve seriously have had my mind blown by how many species of fish have different colour forms and how some literally change colour in front of your eyes! I’m going to (slowly) make a thread of some examples…
Want an ID challenge and an under-recorded group? Try aphids! Hack: ID plant, take phone pics, use InfluentialPoints website, request help from @norwichbirder.bsky.social on FB (thanks!…). All these from last week or so: Willowherb Aphid, common Lime Aphid, Italian Alder Aphid and Wooly Beech Aphid
June 24, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Want an ID challenge and an under-recorded group? Try aphids! Hack: ID plant, take phone pics, use InfluentialPoints website, request help from @norwichbirder.bsky.social on FB (thanks!…). All these from last week or so: Willowherb Aphid, common Lime Aphid, Italian Alder Aphid and Wooly Beech Aphid
Great snorkeling at Pease Bay in calm sea - four more #coelenterates photographed today: the Northern Comb Jelly, and the hydrozoans Laodicea undulata, Melicertum octocostatum and Tima bairdii. None of the latter is recorded frequently- probably because they are small, transparent and in the sea!
June 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Great snorkeling at Pease Bay in calm sea - four more #coelenterates photographed today: the Northern Comb Jelly, and the hydrozoans Laodicea undulata, Melicertum octocostatum and Tima bairdii. None of the latter is recorded frequently- probably because they are small, transparent and in the sea!