Sunshine and Flies

This morning there was ice in the bird bath. By around 1:00, it was still only around 34ºF. I didn't bother doing a bug walk, but as I left the house to go out for the afternoon, I checked the mums, to see if the bee from yesterday was still there. There was no bee, but there was this:

 Flower fly. You can see a little bit of the discoloration of the flower petals; the nightly freezes seem to be getting to them. But this fly wasn't just lying there in a stupor. I saw it fly away, and fly around the rock garden a bit before landing on the house.

And it wasn't alone:

 There were several flies basking on the side of the house. By the time I took this picture the ice in the bird bath had melted–there's not much water in there, so it didn't take much to melt it, just some sunlight and a couple of degrees above freezing.

I didn't hear any crickets today, not even down by the rocks. And I didn't have time for much, but I did look at the tree next to the driveway and...

... this cricket was still there. One of its antennae was moving, and there wasn't any breeze so it must have moved it on its own.

For everyone who thinks that a hard frost kills off all the insects: no. That's not what happens.