The fly can be seen in the center of this photograph of the planter still decorated for autumn harvest in mid-December. The temperature peaked at 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 C) on December 18th in Brighton, Michigan, but that didn’t deter a Common Green Bottle Fly from venturing out.
Perhaps he had burrowed into the soilof the planter for his winter nap so he was able to stiffly crawl up onto the decorative corn husk to reach the warming sun rays.
The microclimate created by the red bricks and concrete sidewalk on this windless day might have wrongly signaled it was springtime
I saw him fly around a bit, a major achievement for insects when it’s below 50 degrees. I doubt he was able to find any rotting meat on which to dine considering the high for the day was the recommended temperature for refrigeration. Maybe a nearby trash bin at a local restaurant had sun beating down on it creating its own microclimate to warm a midday meal.
Douglas Peterson
Douglas Alden Peterson is a freelance graphic designer / writer in Brighton, Michigan with 30 years of experience in strategic marketing and design for large and small companies. In leisure hours, he creates a blog where he records the lives of SUBURBAN wildlife, birds and other animals that have learned to tolerate the often annoying human species. His nature blog: Words4It.com; His marketing and design business: Vizzle.com
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