- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Published on: November 3, 2008
Ah, rain!
Ah, liquid precipitation!
Just when we were feeling drought-stressed, the weather forecast turned to rain.
I don't know if "the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain," but the rain in Northern California fell squarely on our bee friendly garden last weekend.
The honey bees weren't there, but the hover flies, aka syrphids and flower flies (family Syrphidae), were.
Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. --Stanley Horowitz
![HOVER FLY--A hover fly, mimicking the coloring of a wasp, is nectaring sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) HOVER FLY--A hover fly, mimicking the coloring of a wasp, is nectaring sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/943.jpg)
Hover fly on sage
![SAGE ADVICE--A syrphid fly, aka hover fly, sips water from purple sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) SAGE ADVICE--A syrphid fly, aka hover fly, sips water from purple sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/946.jpg)
Sage advice
![RAIN DROPS KEEP FALLING--A hover fly, about the size of a rain drop, lands on a leaf as rain lands on the insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) RAIN DROPS KEEP FALLING--A hover fly, about the size of a rain drop, lands on a leaf as rain lands on the insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/951.jpg)
Rain drops keep falling...
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