Hoverfly

A female Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera: Syrphidae).  I have seen a few of these over the past few weeks.

Photo taken in Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-03-01.

Snail

A snail of species Cepaea nemoralis.

Photos taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-03-01.

Spider

From early summer last year: a female spider, probably Xerolycosa nemoralis, carrying its egg-sac. 

According to this page at the Spider and Harvestman Recording Scheme website, X. nemoralis is restricted to the south-east  corner of the UK.

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2013-06-01.

Tephritid Fly

From a year and a half ago: a female Urophora cardui (Diptera: Tephritidae) on a nettle (Urtica dioica), not its normal host plant.

Photos taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2012-06-19.

Yellow Jelly Fungus

Tremella mesenterica growing on a branch from a broad-leaf tree.

I took the following specimen home with me:

And it yielded the following spores (magnification x600, field width 86um):

The large ellipsoidal spores are about 13.5 x 9um which agrees well with the range 10.0–16.0 x 6.0–9.5um given for Tremella mesenterica here.  The numerous small spores may be contamination from the green lichen that covered most of the branch.

First photo and specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-02-15.