Spring Fly Fest

So, we earthlings move into the light side of the year with a majestic sashay of the globe we dwell upon, and I had a look around to see who's metamorphizin'. The first full day after the equinox in Tustin was a kind of coolish, overcast with a couple drops of wet stuff falling. That did not deter the buggies, though, and there was an amazing variety of them on display in my humble gardens today. I will focus this report on everyone's favorites: FLIES. No, not butterflies . . . I did see one (funereal duskywing), but it was too fast for my shutter finger. Not dragonflies, either but flies as in diptera: two-winged fly-flies.

Pictured here are house fly, boatman fly, and (I believe) hairy maggot blowfly. And you thought flies just hung out on garbage, dung or carcasses.

There were also lots of syrphid flies hovering around, presumably looking for aphids which are thankfully in short supply. Many green bottle flies around too, making the most of the dog poo that I didn't pick up yet, and gnats and midges and several types of very tiny flies I have yet to identifly.