Midge

Spotted this small fly with its feathery antennae a few days ago.
As far as I can tell it is a midge of the Chironomidae family.
I was surprised how close it let me get with the iPhone to take a photo.



On the nestbox front it looks as though there are now seven Blue Tit eggs in the nest.

The Bee Bush (swf)

OK. So the Buddleia Bush is usually known as the Butterfly Bush but my Globular variety has been attracting scores of bees so far this year so I have christened it my Bee Bush:


The easiest way to see the photos is to click on each part photo.



Plus the occasional fly:

 

Hold on Tight

A few days ago I saw this small fly on the aluminium bar across the green house door. It wasn't until I had a close look at the photo that I noticed how it managed to hang on the vertical surface:



I could see how it had spread two of its legs to hook the ends in the minute scratches in the metal.

Ivy Visitors

 


Not many in the way of flowers for insects to feed on these days. The one exception is Ivy. This must be the best years I have seen for the amount of flowers on my Ivy. Some in the front hedge and a clump at the back have been attracting scores of flying insects.

While the Sun was out yesterday one clump was attracting bees which were filling their pollen sacs.



Outnumbering the bees were flies by the score:



They are making the most of the dwindling pollen and nectar supply as the flowers are fading fast.

Wings for Wednesday

A couple of red eyed flies this week.

The first is a Flesh Fly:  (Sarcophaga bercaea)
Easily recognised by the large red eyes, the stripes on the thorax and the checked abdomen. They do not lay eggs but carry them until they hatch. The larvae then burrow into food material.



The second appears to be a  Root-Maggot Fly . (Anthomyiidae)



Both photos are somewhat reduced in sharpness as they were processed twice. First using the Redynamix plugin in PaintShop Pro. Then they were transferred to the iPad  to convert to greyscale and colour pop the flies using the ColorSplash app.

Why colour pop? This is a small crop from the photo as taken. I feel that the bright colour of the plastic barrel detracts from the subject.



Goldfinches:
Now the breeding season is over the Goldfinches are back to moving around in flocks. Yesterday teatime the Birdy Bistro was invaded by upwards of forty all trying to feed at the same time. One noticeable fact is the number of youngsters. I would estimate that at least half were this years juveniles which is great and should help to improve their numbers in the area.

Another Unidentified Fly

I was filming a damselfly laying eggs in my pond when I noticed this fly on one of the lily pads.



What was unusual was the way it was moving its proboscis side to side across the leaf just like a vacuum cleaner.



I have tried some searches in the hope of finding out what type of fly it is, but so far have found nothing which looks like this one. In size it was about 10 to 12mm in length which might explain why I did not even notice the other bugs on the leaf until I cropped and enlarged the photo. They would appear to be only 1 or 2mm in size.



With luck there may be some video of it on Friday along with the damselfly.

While I was looking for the above fly on the internet I did find what I think is an identification of the red eyed fly from a while ago.



I am now pretty sure it was a Flesh Fly from the group Sarcophagidae. I don't think it will take three guesses to work out what its diet is.

Friday at the Flicks (Busy Bees and Flirting Flies)

Once again my Lavender bushes are attracting scores of insects both day and night. During the day each of the three plants attracts at least twenty bumble bees of four types at any one time. White butterflies have started to visit and before long I expect more varieties will arrive. Late evening, as the numbers of bees diminish, their place is taken by dozens of moths.

A short video of just a few of the bees. (Taken with the Lumix TZ7)



Earlier in the week a couple of flies on the water lily leaves caught my attention. It was the first time I had ever noticed a fly moving sideways. Is this a case of an ardent admirer stalking its victim, a happy dancing fly showing off to its partner or part of a mating ritual? (Taken with the Panasonic DVD camcorder)


Whichever it was the smaller fly was very persistent as this activity went on for quite a long time.

Have a great weekend observing the antics of the wildlife around you.

Red Eyed Fly

Spotted this resting on a solar lantern in the garden today.



It appears to be either Eustalomyia or Anthomyia but which group and which particular member of the group has eluded me as there are so many with red eyes and black and white markings.