Robin
Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009
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| Quote (Erasmus, FCD @ Aug. 14 2012,11:06) | | all that variation among individuals (and even within an individual, as they age) makes dragonflies such wonderful objects for critter watchin |
No kidding!
I have to say that taking up critter watching (to give me something to do while hiking) has really been amazing. I think back to when I did not pay any attention to the critters I encountered and my view of the world was very limited. For example, birds in a given area fell into two categories - the "standard, familiar" ones I knew or "LLB" (or the equivalent), which meant that to me at the time, there were something along the lines of...say...10 species of birds here in Virginia. I'm exaggerating a bit, but not much. Butterflies were just "butterflies"; I might have recognized a handful of species, but I didn't really know them. Ditto for all other "bugs", though I did know a few spiders.
Now, however, after a few years of really studying birds and their relationships to various habitats, I can't help but take note of everything that moves and note variations between similar "kinds". Now I'm, still learning and I sometimes confuse similar species, but it's such a thrill to even note the similarities and try to find out better ways to distinguish them.
It really is a lot of fun learning as a go on this.
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we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed. Bilbo
The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis
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