iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

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 .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

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 .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

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 .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Noticed a millipede choosing a very risky hiding place tonight !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

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 !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

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 .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Weasel inspecting badger hole .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

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

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

@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 ?

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

@ashwhiffin.bsky.social Hi Ash, got these both down as nicrophorus investigator ? moth trap , torness 14/8 Thanks again

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

@mothiduk.bsky.social Hi again, back to basics , could do with a refresher on Common Rustic and Flounced Rustic . Also would be interested on your view of the micro .Many thanks

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Steely Blue Wood Wasp , Silex juvencus ,a very rare find yesterday . Torness ,East Lothian .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Did you ever wonder how stained glass windows got invented ? Thanks the Painted Lady !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

A hoverfly you can hardly miss is Great Pied Hoverfly ,Volucella pellucens . At 15mm it is unmistakeable . In the wildlife garden today .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Would you believe there is such a species as the Batman Hoverfly ,named for the Batman symbol on it's thorax ? In the wildlife garden today . Get into hoverflies, they are fascinating and very varied .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Met a young Palmate Newt on tonight's torchlight safari around our wildlife garden

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

@mothiduk.bsky.social Hi again, just running these three marbled carpet types past you . All from this morning

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Sea Holly isn't what Holly Blues are named after ,but they love it In our wildlife garden today .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Birders , if you think only birds migrate ,google the life cycle of Painted Lady butterflies . They even trigger radar on their high altitude return trip !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Speckled Wood butterfly back lit by sunlight . Hunterston B power station estate today

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Dark Giant Horsefly at Hunterston today . Our largest horsefly species at 25mm or more . Thankfully they prefer cattle and horses to humans !

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

@ashwhiffin.bsky.social Hi Ashleigh ,wondered how you are on dor/dung beetles ? This one was photographed at Hunterston today . Many thanks again

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Wall butterfly chilled by a damp morning ,allowing me a face to face photograph . Torness today before the sun made a welcome return .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

It's no coincidence this Common Broomrape is growing close to Red Clover . It has no green parts with which to convert sunlight into sugars . Instead it steals it's nourishment by tapping into the roots of the clover .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Ssshhh , don't tell a soul . Goldfinch incubating eggs in an enclosed quad garden . I have put a stop on all work in the garden meantime . There are also two young woodpigeons due to fledge next week . Industry and birds can and do mix well.

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Small Skipper butterflies are turning up in ever more places across the county ,(East Lothian). Great to watch one on the Red Valerian today. They are tiny so study your blooms .

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

@mothiduk.bsky.social Hi again, I'm guessing Eudonia lacustrata for this micro ? Thanks again

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Six Spot Burnet Moth, and Small Copper and Small Skipper among several species of butterfly in Dalkia's acres of unmown grass between Torness power station's buildings today.

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George Hogg @georgehogg.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Green Leafhopper , Cicadella viridis , new to Torness invertebrate lists today . Absolutely stunning colours but not easy to photograph as it crawled all over me !

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