St Mark's fly

After a very difficult morning, decided to go for a lunchtime walk for a bit of escape and thought.

The plants along the verges have shot up in the last week and there were quite a lot of insects around despite the lack of sun. There were loads of these St Mark's flies ( Bibio marci) around, lots in mating pairs. They were sitting on the vegetation and flying in their most peculiar dangly manner. Not sure why some of them seemed to have 'muddy' marks on them. Apparently they are meant to appear around St Mark's day (25 April) and only last for about a couple of weeks.

Ever wish you could just have a day off from being a parent?