Gold-Eye

To St Olaf Natural Lands. Cloudy with rain expected late. And cool, the temperature not climbing out of the 40s.

Near the edge of the catchment pond at the corner of campus I noticed a tiny, black speck on a golden-yellow Dandelion flower. Using my camera to magnify the insect, the speck resolved to be a fly. It had long, many-segmented antennae, so one of the lower flies, the Nematocera (which translates literally as "thread-horn"), the group of flies that includes midges, mosquitoes, crane flies and gnats. The fly on the Dandelion, just a few millimeters in length, was from the family Sciaridae, the Dark-winged Fungus Gnats.

Because of the cool temperature and lack of sunshine, very few insects were active. There were, as if in exchange, some interesting birds. The first encountered, almost as rare as finding a gold coin, was the secretive Le Conte's Sparrow. This small, rufous sparrow flew from the grass to a leafless thicket where I was able to have a long look at it. Audubon lists Le Conte's Sparrow as climate endangered. The next encounters took place at the wooded pond. Along the shore, numerous Yellow-rumped Warblers flitted and fed in the overhanging branches. And a Swamp Sparrow worked the water's edge near my feet.

Turning for home, I decided to check on the wild plum blossoms. The blossoms were close to blooming. Probably they will open in the next day or two, certainly if the weather warms and the sun shines. An unusual clump of orange lichen on one of plum branches caught my attention. As best I can determine, this is Gold-eye Lichen, quite a rare find if so.

Posted on April 20, 2017 03:40 AM by