Some fly facts

A water meter reading day.

I stopped for a snack at Baikies Stores in Finstown - a very reliable source of interesting roll fillings... if you get there early enough. Since my hunger pangs began well before most people's lunchtimes I had a good selection to choose from.

There were lots of flies round the car and this is the best of a dozen blurred images. They had distinctive long, hanging down legs. I looked them up when I got home and now know they are St Mark's flies. Also known as Hawthorn Flies, they emerge around St Mark's day, 25th April, and can be seen in swarms in May. The adults only live for about a week. They are important early pollinators for fruit trees and other plants in flower at this time of year.