Tachinid Flies

My first Tachinid fly of the year: probably Macquartia grisea (Diptera: Tachinidae), a male.  According to two authorities on Tachinid flies, this species does not normally appear until the end of April, so this individual was about 6 weeks early.

Ten days later I came across a female of the same species:

This was on the same bush as I had seen the male.  Note the big difference in the gap between the eyes. 

And this is the female from a slightly different angle:

I have to admit that on both days I had assumed that I was photographing a fairly standard Muscid fly, and I didn't spot the long spines in the abdomen until I had got home and had a chance to look at the photos on my computer.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK on 2012-03-11 (male) and 2012-03-21 (female).

Another Muscid Fly

A male Graphomya maculata = Graphomyia maculata (Diptera: Muscidae).

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-07-22.

Muscid Fly

A female Graphomya maculata = Graphomyia maculata (Diptera: Muscidae).

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2010-10-16.

Bee Fly

From Monday afternoon, my first bee fly of the year: a male Bombylius major (Diptera: Bombyliidae).  Spring is now well under way.

Photo taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2012-03-19.

Treecreeper

 

From my Sunday afternoon walk: a treecreeper (Certhia familiaris).  It was flitting from tree to tree, walking up and down their trunks and poking into crevices.

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2012-03-18.