Quiet, but Dry Patch

22^nd July.  I’ve not seen the lake so quiet for a long time, but at least the sun was shining and the surrounding areas are drying up helped by the quite strong wind.

The only thing of note on the smaller lake was the flowering Amphibious Bistort with carpets of it spreading over the lake.  When I first began to take a passing interest in botanical matters one of the first plants that really caught the eye was this Amphibious Bistort.  For some reason the name appeals to me.  I imagine that the way it spreads it could become quite a nuisance, but it makes it no less appealing to me and the birds like to use it as cover when napping on the water.  I remember trying to find Little Grebes amongst it.  I’ve not seen Little Grebes on the small lake for sometime now, although they have been on the large lake this year.  The reflections on the water were attractive today too.

I didn’t give much attention to the larger lake but did sit by the water for a while and watched Swifts and one or two Common Terns.

I decided to have a wander across to my favourite area for insects.  The wind ensured that there wasn’t going to be much around.  I was hoping for some macro shots, but I almost gave up before a moth caught my eye and in the same area a couple of Small Skippers and Common Blue Damselflies.  Small Skippers were here in abundance at this time in 2011, but not this year.  In any even neither butterfly nor damselfly would settle long enough to let me capture the image and the moth had disappeared completely.  A few insects did begin to appear, one of which was a Flesh Fly, a member of the Diptera family, Sarcophagidae.  Sarco being Greek for flesh and phage Greek for eating.  The flies breed in decaying material and some species lay eggs in the wounds of mammals.  I remember watching a programme on TV about a lady involved with forensics.  Flesh flies are among other species of insect that are used in forensics for dating the time of death of body.  Flesh flies are one of the first insects to visit a dead body and the state of development of the insects is used for the timing of the death.  I seem to remember that the lady in question, an American, enjoyed her work!  Anyway this all gave me the chance to use the macro lens again

I'm not cut out for this high wire act!

Flesh Fly