On Aug 13, 10:55*pm, "Robert from Oz"
wrote:
Hi Giles,
Love your enthusiasm and thanks for sharing your enjoyment of it, can't help
but smile reading your post.

Rob.

Thanks for the kind words, Rob.

I've always found enthusiasm.....and amazement.....to be unavoidable
in observing the natural world. It's enough to make a boy tired
because it NEVER stops. For example, I read somewhere just recently
that there are vastly more species of animals than of plants on
earth. Huh? How can anybody live on this planet for half a century
or more and not know that?! For that matter, how does one go about
assessing the accuracy of the claim, especially considering that
perhaps as many of 90% of the species on the planet have yet to be
discovered/collected/described by science?

We're currently experiencing the hottest and wettest summer I can
recall here in southern Wisconsin. One consequence is that many
insects are out and about which would presumably remain hidden to
avoid dessication in most years. Consequences cascade; I think I've
discovered several new species myself.....just in the past three
days. But hell, how's a boy to know? Tiny things.....itty bitty
things that flit about, come to rest on an arm or a leg or a table top
for just long enough to attract attention, and then disappear.
Strange things. I saw a minuscule fly this morning (I assume it was a
dipteran due to overall body shape, wing position, stance, etc.), less
than 2 mm in length, with a bulbous bright ruby colored head.....or
maybe it was just the eyes.....can't be sure because it was too small,
too far away (two feet or so) and gone too quickly. Not a drosophila,
I think.....I've enough of those to have a pretty good idea. A day
and an evening on the deck yields hundreds (maybe thousands?) of
similar sightings.....who knows, can't even count them! A season of
such days and evenings and assiduous collecting would doubtless result
in coming up with things not covered anywhere in the scientific
literature.

However, I don't collect. No fame.....no fortune. Ah, well.

giles
if you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by.....i'll buy you a beer.