Re my previous post , including this pic for anyone wondering what a plankton net is . The mesh is of course VERY fine !

Carpenter's Meter , a colony of diatoms I fished from Dunbar old harbour . They change shape and direction by sliding along one another . Among our smallest wildlife but a strong contender for the weirdest !

Following my hopeful misidentification last month ,finally found my first Water Bear (tardigrade) today . Discovered in moss from my roof . A long held ambition to see this iconic creature ,now ticked !

This is Vaginicola tincta . There are two within the tube or lorica which starts out clear but slowly turns brown with age due to the absorption of dissolved iron. Incredible what lives in our wildlife ponds !

Added 40 or so Purging Buckthorn to the previously planted Alder Buckthorn at Torness today . All for the next time Brimstone butterflies try to colonise Scotland !

Noticing my bird bath was full of dead leaves ,I took a sample of water to look at the life forms in it . Amazingly there is more activity than in the wildlife pond . This is due to a general lack of predators , so ciliates like the three species shown here can form large populations .

Filmed a Seed Shrimp from my wildlife pond today . Hyperactive wee pin points ,and fascinating to enlarge .

While we were being audited for Biodiversity Benchmark Award at Hunterston today, one of the power station staff showed me this pic taken within the grounds of the power station . It is a female Drinker moth laying eggs . This brings the estate moth list to 75 species

Thrilled by the discovery of a tardigrade egg in the wildlife pond . Seeing an adult tardigrade is top of my bucket list ,and this discovery suggests that day might not be too far away !

Another 100 rockrose plugs planted at Torness to create habitat for Northern Brown Argus butterfly. Many thanks to Nick of East Lothian Council countryside rangers

Red letter day ,finally saw and photographed a tardigrade after over 60 years of being a naturalist . I have a good excuse as these animals are minute . It is the transparent creature ,here feeding ,head uppermost. Just need to find rotifers and pseudoscorpions to complete my micro bucket list !

Having a decent knowledge of visible pond life ,I am drawn to study the foundations of that ecosystem . Microscope upgraded. The smaller you go ,the further back in evolution you travel. Here is some Volvox algae . If I don't get lost in the microcosmos ,I'll show you more soon

Hoping to film my garden Bank Voles but gatecrashed by a Wren !

Naming garden ferns. Would welcome more expert opinions . Clockwise..shield fern, shaggy shield fern, rock polypody, maidenhair spleenwort, hard shield fern , harts tongue , spinulose wood fern , Irish spleenwort . Autumn fern. 2nd pic. Lady Fern &Crested Buckler Fern

I'm currently investigating which 6mm species of freshwater flatworm swarms around my pond surface at night . I need to know what it eats ,how it breeds , and where it fits into the pond ecosystem. There is so much to learn in nature and it's all utterly amazing ! Go on ,dive in !

If we were the size of midges ,we would think ants and beetles were lions and tigers. These scales cover the wings of moths . I yearn for a more powerful implement so that I can photograph rotifers, tardigrades and other aliens of the micro cosmos . My wildlife pond is just such a universe !

Male sparrowhawk photographed from house in this morning's rain . Sparrowhawks often pick a vantage point and just wait for prey to come to them .

The stick at top of pics shows scale . Hard to believe these two belong to the same family (Mustelids) . In fact badger and weasel are the largest and smallest members of the family in UK . Other members include stoat ,polecat and otter . All very different .

Noticed a millipede choosing a very risky hiding place tonight !

Couldn't have asked for better witnesses ,standing in Skateraw car park, East Lothian this morning with two fellow ecologists when a clouded yellow almost flew into us before skipping over our heads into the wood ! Only my second UK one in decades . Takes Torness butterfly list to 22 species

Pink Barred Sallow from the garden last night . A true Autumn moth ,they fly September-October . The caterpillars when young live inside willow catkins

I do love meeting a species new to me . Adonis Ladybird at Thorntonloch today . Very few local records

Thought I had seen my last Hummingbird Hawkmoth of the year ,given the season and wind . Surprised to see one in the garden today . Excuse the photos ,both the moth and the valerian were blowing all over the place !

Stoat with unusual face pattern . Although some stoats turn white in winter , in our area it is much more common to see partially white ones . Some like this one only develop white marks on their faces . Some even retain these recognisable face marks all year .

Weasel inspecting badger hole .

Some things you don't expect going down a badger hole !

Found a Barred Warbler opposite entrance to Thorntonloch Caravan Site today .

A female Melangyna umbellatarum in our wildlife garden on 24th August . Only 3rd record for East Lothian . Please photograph and id your hoverflies ,then submit to iRecord

@bsbibotany.bsky.social This seems the only surviving constituent of a mixed wildlife crop . An app makes it Barnyard Grass . Is that correct ?

@bsbiscotland.bsky.social Hello,I'd be interested in identity of this mint which is such a favourite of butterflies on one of my invertebrate transects at present . I got as far as Round Leaved or Apple Mint ?