More Flies

A late morning walk at the Cowling Arboretum began with sunshine but quickly transposed to clouds and shadow. Still, a comfortable outing with plenty of insects. I was surprised to encounter a number of darners feeding above the small meadow. I couldn't get a good look at them, but they may have been Blue-eyed Darners. Lots of Ornate Snipe Flies on the vegetation near the creek. Valentine Ants. The first Stream Bluets. Eastern Forktails. The ubiquitous Common Whitetails. An Eastern Pondhawk. A tiny Big-headed Fly. A spider-wasp-looking sawfly.

In the backyard, the Goat's Beard blossoms continue to attract a spectrum of insects. New today were Carrot Wasps (Gasteruption sp.), Streaktails, and Black-nosed Grass Skimmers. The latter is a fly I've not encountered before. Several males were present, exhibiting territorial behavior, perching, hovering, chasing. The larvae of these tiny flies feed on aphids and are especially adept at capturing ant-defended aphids.

Walking the dog at the end of the day, I can't take my eyes off the magnificent clouds to the east, large cumulus clouds billowing up into thunderheads. Bright white summits, the lower slopes and vales capture the colors of the sunset. So close and so mountainous that I suddenly feel as though I'm walking the streets of a foothill town in the Rockies, our dusty midwest streets transposed and transported.

Posted on June 15, 2017 04:17 AM by scottking