Mon 2012-01-23 
A seed pod of a yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus). See here for a photo of a flower of the same species.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-09-05.
Sun 2012-01-22 
A week or so ago, my daughter was tidying up her bedroom and came across a diary from 2009. I thought this page was worth photographing before we threw it out. I never knew she had such an exciting life.
Sun 2012-01-22 
A few days back this small beetle flew in through our kitchen window. It is probably a male spider beetle, a Ptinus sp (Coleoptera: Anobiidae).
Spider beetles are so-called because, with their long antennae looking like extra legs, they were thought to resemble small spiders. There are 8 UK species of Ptinus listed at the NBN Gateway: dubius, fur, lichenum, palliatus, pusillus, sexpunctatus, pubpillosus and tectus. The white patches on the wing cases on my specimen look like those for sexpunctatus but the background colour doesn't look right so I won't claim that as an identification. It is probably a male because in Ptinus the females have a distinctly rounder and less elongated body shape than the males (see here).
Photos taken in Reading, UK, on 2012-01-20.
Sat 2012-01-21 
A blue disco fungus growing on a fallen branch of a tree.
Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2012-01-19.
Fri 2012-01-20 
A female hoverfly of species Volucella pellucens (Diptera: Syrphidae). These lay their eggs inside the nests of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2010-08-01.
