Another day, another rescue

The orb weaver spiders that live outside our house have webs up all over the sides of our house which I routinely check for dragon and damsel flies.  I found a dragon today but it was too late for him, alas.  And then...and then...I spied this very large fly up high above the back door.  I grabbed a stick and gently put it up next to him at which point he began to flutter mightily.  So, a lot of flailing on my part, along with some colorful language, before I finally got him and part of the web down to ground level.  I fear that he may not fly again, but he's resting and cleaning himself so maybe... Before I left him to his devices, however, I grabbed the macro lens and got close.  How about those eyes???  I think this is the best photo I've ever gotten of a fly's compound eyes.  Very pleased.

I should add that I had him in hand several times, trying to pull some strands of webbing off.  That may not have been my best move as I believe he's a horse fly.  And they can bite.  No toxin, but it can definitely draw blood.  Lucky for me, he wasn't in a biting frame of mind.  Dorsal view in Extra.

After the craziness yesterday with the hoards of starlings, there were only a few around today, and none for long.  Almost like yesterday day was Suet 101 in their ongoing training program and they've moved on to something else today.

I checked the bluebird box and it looks like one of the eggs may be pipping (meaning that the baby inside is making tiny cracks on the egg.  They are right at Day 14 so the time is right.  Mom and Dad have been in and out of the box all afternoon.  I will check again tomorrow at which point I expect to see little squirmy babies.

And in other nesting news, we now have two active House Wren nests each with 7 tiny brown eggs.  The second nest surprised me as I didn't know they'd been working on it. Both nests are being brooded so I'll have to do some guesswork as to when they will hatch.  

Very warm and muggy out today.  I was going to head out for a hike this morning but it looked like thunderstorms so I stayed home.  Turns out I could have gone. Oh well.  Manana.  

Thanks for all the love on those crazy starlings yesterday. They certainly brightened up my day.

NJ is moving slowly through Phase 1 of reopening.  Not fast enough to please a lot of folks, but just fine with me.  I don't want to go back to where we were in April.  And to be honest, even as some things open, I will still wait a bit.  And I'll be wearing my mask.

Be safe.  Be kind.  Be loving.

xo
Debbi