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.
I find there are three ways to do the Miller Woods trail at the Indiana Dunes National Park. First is to simply take the trail all the way out to Lake Michigan and back, a second way is to take the abandoned railroad spur over to the US Steel Gary Works.
A third way is to do just the shorter loop around the pannes next to the Nature Center. This results in a much shorter hike of about a mile, and avoids going up and down the dune ridges in soft sand which can be surprisingly taxing. Late spring is a great time to do this short loop as it is packed with a nice variety of wild flowers, especially Wild Lupine which turns whole swatches of the land blue. A later post will be devoted to just the Wild Lupine, but for the moment I want to highlight some other other actors in this beautiful scene.
Lily of the Valley is prevalent at the start of the trail near the Nature Center.As with most of the park this time of year, Wild Columbine is all over the place. Unlike most wild flowers, Columbine points downward towards the ground rather than upwards toward the sun.Because of it’s downward orientation, it can be challenging to get shots of the inside of the flower of Wild Columbine. On this sunny day I took advantage of the sun to create a strongly backlit shot. One of my guiding principles for doing nature photography is that you simply have to work with what nature decides to give you on a given day. Under the conditions I knew it would be difficult to try and get a well balanced shot of the inside of the flower, so I went with the backlit composition which is what was on tap this day.Another example of taking what nature is giving. The leaves here are still covering up the flower within but by using a fast aperture, f4 in this case, I was able to render it against a wonderfully smooth and creamy background that I find very appealing.The flowers of Black Huckleberry are tiny, numerous, a lovely reddish-pink color, and present in large dense patches through out the whole park.It can be difficult to bring out the subtle colors of Pussy Toes on a bright sunny day due to their largely white color which is easy to blow out if you are not careful with your exposure.I have been coming across these quite a bit lately. Still have not figured out what the plant is, which is half the fun of doing nature photography. You are always coming across things you have not identified yet.Blue Eye Grass. The flower is really tiny which makes it a nice subject when using a macro lens.I said I would leave the Wild Lupine for another post, but it would be a shame not to include one shot of it. Not quite in full bloom yet, but it will be soon.Where you find Wild Lupine you will usually also find Wood Betony as they both like the same sandy soil conditions.Even though I focus on up close photography, I do take the occasional bird shot. This Sandhill Crane was just hanging out most of the time I was here. I see these birds quite frequently in the Great Marsh over on the east end of the park. This is the first time I caught one on the ground at Miller Woods.
