Fly

"God in his wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why."
Ogden Nash

It isn't pretty, but it does have the most amazing eyes and feet. This one was balancing on the edge of a Magnolia leaf. The fly is so ephemeral, yet so elaborate. Lightning reflexes, extraordinary powers of flight, sophisticated senses - a tiny creature so perfectly adapted to its way of life.

Yesterday I featured the little woodmouse on the wall below the bird feeder. As well as the one blipped, there was a much smaller one darting out for sunflower seeds. Alas, this morning, I think it was the little one that I found on the mat just inside the cat flap. I was reminded by someone yesterday of the effect that the domestic cat has on the populations of birds and rodents around habitations. It's undeniable and there are reliable figures of the numbers of creatures that are taken by our cats every year. And earlier this year I said that Bob had retired from hunting. As far as birds are concerned this does seem to be true, he takes no interest. But the number of mice attracted to the flower bed below the feeder has brought him out of retirement. They are just too easy to catch.