WA WAnderings

[JohnM]

That evening, I contemplated continuing NE to Cue as the lure of a superb Cue Burger and a bottle of Far Cue () red, previously documented several times, was in my mind.

However, on reflection, I opted against that for a few reasons: the wildflowers further N were past their peak, I had been to, around and through Cue several times in the last few years and the bush flies were in extreme abundance and a very aggressive nuisance (that, in itself, is a good biological indicator that the season was 'turning'.)

Instead, I opted to head SE from Yalgoo to Paynes Find and then into the N part of the wheatbelt agricultural region to overnight before the run home.

First stop, not far SE of Yalgoo was Jokers Tunnel, a bit of a gold-mining legend in the area (Jokers Tunnel, an outback gold mining mystery). Reputedly originating as a rich gold strike, it's 100m long and cuts through a hill, but its alleged richness didn't live up to spruikers' claims.

 

[JohnM]

Continuing on through a sea of wildflowers, to camp at Billiburning Rock.

 

[9171]

Awesome photos! Amazing flora! Are there many bugs on the windscreen? Have read many things online saying how insects are dying out Are the remote areas still ok??

 

[JohnM]

Awesome photos! Amazing flora! Are there many bugs on the windscreen? Have read many things online saying how insects are dying out Are the remote areas still ok??

Plenty of insects on the windscreen, and - as I mentioned - the bush flies were in great abundance and with particularly persistent nuisance behaviour. It is, incidentally, an insect the biology and ecology of which I happen to know a great deal about.

I see no overt difference now after c. 50 years travelling around rural and remote WA professionally as an agricultural research scientist specialising in entomology and as a tourer.

But of course that doesn't mean some narrower specific measurements may support what you have read.

 

[9171]

Plenty of insects on the windscreen, and - as I mentioned - the bush flies were in great abundance and with particularly persistent nuisance behaviour. It is, incidentally, an insect the biology and ecology of which I happen to know a great deal about.

I see no overt difference now after c. 50 years travelling around rural and remote WA professionally as an agricultural research scientist specialising in entomology and as a tourer.

But of course that doesn't mean some narrower specific measurements may support what you have read.

That is very reassuring, I feel sometimes I have witnessed the reduction, but perhaps that is just my own new cosmopolitan surrounds that skew my observations. My own entomological focus is on glow beetles, specifically the dual-glow variety that are present in northern Colombia. Beautiful things.

 

[JohnM]

That is very reassuring, I feel sometimes I have witnessed the reduction, but perhaps that is just my own new cosmopolitan surrounds that skew my observations. My own entomological focus is on glow beetles, specifically the dual-glow variety that are present in northern Colombia. Beautiful things.

Tell me more by PM, if you wish.