UNUSUAL VISITORS AT THE A.O.G. DAY 9

Today was a “rest day” for the Snail contingent so I didn’t see any of them outside their bedroom this morning.  After watching Church online, Mr. HCB and I decided to go out for a drive and a walk, as we had been so busy with the Alternative Olympic Games interviews all week, we felt we needed a break too.

We went out to Winterbourne Bassett again and walked for about two miles along the byway, hoping to see some other competitors in the A.O.G. and we were not disappointed.  There were plenty of butterflies who were obviously perfecting their techniques for the Synchronised Flying events that take place next week, but this little Sarcophaga carnaria or Flesh-fly to give it its common name, caught my eye.  

We weren’t too sure which event this Flesh-fly would be taking part in, so after I had managed to take a couple of shots, I asked if I could have a quick interview - it was fortunate that I had brought the microphone with me today, so I quickly set it up while Freddie, as I discovered he was called, continued sucking the nectar out of the purple thistle flower - see extra.

Freddie said he was happy to speak to me and told me he had come to take part in the Nectar-Sucking Event tomorrow, so he was hoping to do lots of practice today.  However, he told me that it was proving rather difficult at the moment because so many of the creeping thistles that he loved had now gone to seed and there weren’t that many flowers left.  He said that he normally fed on rotting meat and dung, but that was in very short supply too at the moment so he was having quite a lean time of it.  However, he was confident that because he was now quite slim, he was able to get well down into the petals on various wild flowers and therefore, he felt he stood quite a good chance of winning this particular event.  He had seen some sheep in an adjoining field though, so thought that he could perhaps get his supper from their dung later.

He said he hadn’t seen his wife, Phoebe, for sometime, so perhaps she had found some carrion or dung already but as she wasn’t taking part in the A.O.G. he just left her flying around while he perfected his nectar sucking ahead of the main event tomorrow.  I told him that I would not be around tomorrow, but wished him well and hoped he got a Gold Medal - I had certainly enjoyed watching him today.

“God in His wisdom made the fly
     and then forgot to tell us why.”
Ogden Nash