First, I noticed the flies...

This time of year the wind kicks up in the evening and by the time darkness falls it sometimes gets downright crazy. I know this, because I dread it. It means trash from the fir trees behind us rains down upon the patio, into the potted plants, and the stock tank pond. A quick clean-up becomes part of my daily routine. So I was out sweeping one morning when I realized there were flies, a lot of flies. It took awhile, but I located what it was they were after, see that red, uhm, "thing?"
It reminded me of a fungus that broke out years ago in one of our bamboo stock tanks, at the time I called them martian penises. I swear I did a blog post about them, but I could not find it. As with any mushroom/fungus question I hoped to get answered, I emailed my friend Tiffany. She was able to identify this "growth" as a stinkhorn mushroom. In her reply she also included a link to an online article that asked "Can an orgasm be caused by the scent of a mushroom? — the stinkhorn mushroom" ya, you should probably click on that link and go read the story.
Alternatively, or additionally, you can watch this video I took of the flies and the stinkhorn. Also, for what it's worth I did not detect a scent, thus I did not, well, you know... Weather Diary, July 5: Hi 75, Low 57/ Precip 0