Cattle flyflies in the city

At 3:15 PM, walk through the unit garden. There is a thin layer of clouds in the sky, like a filter, so that the summer sun is not so dazzling, and then sifted through the dense and different leaves, drawing patches of light on the ground, thick or light, gentle as spring.

Passing by the magnolia tree next to the canteen that bloomed green and white in the spring, two different birds were heard: a familiar, short chirp, which was supposed to be a bald man; and another, making a sharp and poignant cry, each about a second long, as if it had been heard somewhere, but not quite sure. He stopped and searched among the thick foliage. Soon, two small birds that had not been found here before were found, red-billed, white-headed, and black-bodied. I remembered that when I was training in Cicheng city in Jiangbei province the year before, I found the figure of this bird in the mountain trees, and I was also attracted by its unique call at that time. This bird is called the white-headed short-legged grebe, I don't know what it is called in Ningbo dialect, the body shape is slightly larger than the white-headed man, slightly smaller than the spotted dove, the call is similar to the crying of a baby, and like the cat's call, and like a life-saving whistle, short and sharp. It looked, with the exception of its beak, much like a scaled-down version of the bald eagle, very lively, flying around the treetops and shouting incessantly.

I had never seen this bird in the woods of the unit before, and it should have been from these few days, like a few magpies from last year, only a short passerby, not the owner of the woods. They were fighting with two bald eagles, presumably trying to grab the bald man's territory, standing on the branches of the magnolia tree, screaming one after another, the bald man looked very angry, around them, flying around, also loudly chattering, arguing fiercely, both sides did not give in.

It didn't seem to stop for a while, and I didn't have time to watch, so I left. When I came back, I couldn't hear the quarrels, I couldn't find them, and I didn't know if I could tell the difference between victory and defeat.

But on the other side of the woods, a tall and thin arbutus tree is very lively. A flock of birds, including crows, black, and bald eagles, were pecking at the red, purple, and purple arbutus fruits that were dotted with branches. A few years ago, I have not found that in this dense camphor forest, there is still a bayberry tree, it seems that there is no bayberry, although this year the epidemic is harmful to human beings virus, but for nature, especially for plants, it is a smooth annual, no matter what fruit tree, are full of fruit, even this rare sunshine all year round, stubbornly sandwiched in the tall camphor bush in the arbutus is also full of fruit, attracting the birds to eat, but also attracted my attention. I went to the tree, grabbed the trunk with both hands and shook it a few times, the trunk was very firm, almost shaking, only a few small bayberry plums fell, mixed with the fallen fruits on the ground, it was difficult to distinguish and find, so I randomly found a small fruit that looked relatively fresh, put it in my mouth, tasted a small bite, and sure enough, it was so sour that I couldn't eat it, and I spit it out in a hurry. Although humans are not interested in this wild sour fruit, it is a rare meal for birds.

Abandoning the bayberry, I walked back to the wisteria shelf, the flowers had fallen early, the leaves were lush and dense, deep and shallow green, in the half-afternoon sun, shining like green jade, and on the curved vines, there were long fruit pods hanging.

I was about to leave when I suddenly found a thin, broken vine hanging under the shelf, gently swaying in the wind, and there was an insect stinging at the top. It's a cattle fly. Although this insect has not been seen for many years, as long as a dozen eyes, you can immediately distinguish that it is not a fly, not a fruit fly, not a mosquito, and not a dragonfly. It was a cattle fly, a slender, thin and emaciated bullfly with a small pointed beak, long legs and a long tail, resting motionless on a vine. From the appearance, it should be born soon, has not yet found food, and its stomach is dry and thin. Looking backlit, six long legs, amber and almost transparent. The body is slender, light gray, and the long wings converge on the back and drag straight to the tail, although the lines stop there without moving, but it is a vibrant appearance.

The hometown dialect calls this small insect, generally after the name with a "sub" word, such as: flies called "flies", bees, earth bees and other bees are collectively called "bees", cattle flies are called "ox fly flies". In my memory, cattle flyflies live by sucking the blood of large animals such as cattle and horses, and they should live in grasslands, forests, villages, and wildernesses, where there live herds of cattle and horses, reckless and bold, find a livestock at random, and then find a belly that cannot be rubbed by the head and feet, and the tail cannot be swept, lie on it, and suck a fat belly before stopping. Unless the cattle herders find out, there is little fear of life.

Seeing a cattle fly for the first time in the city. In this crowded city, there are no cattle and horses, whose blood does it suck, how can it survive? Unlike mosquitoes, it is small and agile, flying without sound, and can wait in dark corners to suck human blood. The oxfly flew up and buzzed, like a helicopter among insects, loud, slow, unresponsive, and presumably killed before it got close to the clever humans.

The city is really not a place where cattle flies live, there are no inferior animals, and they dare not touch the edges of higher animals, and if they want to survive, they can only rely on tree sap nectar, or even rotten food sap. But let the blood and meat of the cattle fly change to vegetarian, the life must be difficult, I am afraid that it will not last long, and I will be hungry and scream.

Therefore, if you are a cattle fly, do not choose the city, the countryside, the wilderness is the place to live freely.