Category: Herron Rookery Trail

Awesome Flies

Posted on by MC2 · Leave a comment

Flies are one of natures most under-appreciated pollenators. Bee’s and Butterfly’s get all the glory, but Flies do much of the work. Plus they are really very photogenic when you get up close and personal as I like to do. Some fun facts about flys…

  • There are over 150,000 species of flies.
  • Flies are second only to Bee’s when it comes to pollenating, and they totally smoke Butterflies in this role.
  • Flies are among the first pollenators to emerge in the early spring. They are hard at work long before the majority of Bee’s and Butterflies have even gotten out of bed for the season.
  • Flies play a crucial role in breaking down animal waste into nutrients.
  • Sure Flies carry and transmit diseases, but disease is part of a healthy ecosystem.
  • Maggot Debridement Therapy. Certain maggots (fly larvae) are used to debride dead flesh associated with injuries in people. Removal of the dead flesh promotes faster healing, and the maggot’s secretions have antibiotic properties.
  • Flies are simply prettier than Bee’s and Butterflies, at least in my opinion.
Here we see a typical fly, hard at work pollenating the first wildflowers of the season in early April.
This one is tough to see against the muddy background as it is brown and light tan itself. But just left of center is one of the more unusual flies, the Bee-Fly which mimic’s Bee’s to scare off predators. You may have to click on the image and view it full size to make out the fly.
Crane Flies are pretty big. They don’t bite however, in fact they lack mouth parts. Most species live about 10 days and do not eat in this time.
Flies are simply fascinating in their appearance. But you have to get a real close view to really appreciate them.
Mosquitos are a species of Fly as it turns out. Although widely regarded as blood sucking pests, there are some varieties that subsist on nectar, and thus act as pollenators.
Click on this image to view it full size. If you look closely just behind the Butterfly, you will spot a Hoverfly.
Here we have a more close-up view of the back side of a Hoverfly. This species is really attractive and typically sports vibrant colors.

Yep, Flies really are the Rockstars of the pollenating insect realm.

And More…

Posted on by MC2 · Leave a comment

In my previous post Spring Is Here… I focused on the early blooming wild flowers I saw on the Heron Rookery trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park. I went to this trail specifically because I wanted to see if the spring ephemerals had begun to show themselves. And the answer turned out to be yes.

But blooming wild flowers were hardly the only things to catch my eye. There was more, so much more to see.

Virginia Waterleaf is plentiful along this trail and is one of my favorites to photograph. So much color and detail in the leaves.
I find the forest floor to be particularly interesting this time of year. Plenty of greenery, but it has not yet expanded to the point where everything just melds together into one continuous mass.
I really like the appearance of the early stages of Hepatica on a wet day. The way that the fine hairs on the stems and the outer surfaces of the flower capture the water is always fascinating.
More emergent flowers…
Cool, overcast days with light rain make everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, so much better. Not only does the water coat everything, enriching colors and providing a nice sheen, it also collects into wonderful droplets on leaves. This is not accidental. The shape and surface of these leaves and blades of grass are designed to hold and ultimately funnel water to the plant for nourishment.
And of course the focus is not just on plant life. Typically I am not aware of the presence of frogs until I hear them plopping into the water as I approach. They are a tad skittish, though this is perfectly understandable considering how many things out there like to eat them. This particular one was very still and never budged while I positioned and setup my camera.
You just know that the spiders must be out as well. I mean where you have blooming flowers you have pollenators, and where you have pollenators you have spiders looking for a meal. This is my first spider of the season, but there are many more to come.
That thing I said earlier about water making things better. Oh yeah…
… so much better!
Emergent Mayapple.
I really enjoy getting down close to the ground for this perspective.