Sat 2020-01-04 
A gall wasp of species Diastrophus rubi (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) which today (2020-01-04) emerged from the bramble gall that I collected in Thames Valley Park on 2019-08-26 (see here for a picture of the gall).
Identification based on the gall key of Redfern and Shirley, 2011.
Sat 2019-12-28 
A rather old fruiting body of an earthstar fungus, probably Geastrum triplex.
Seen under a beech hedge on Addington Road, Reading, UK on 2019-12-28.
Thu 2019-12-26 
A male Hydrellia griseola (Diptera: Ephydridae) swept from long grass. The larvae mine the leaves of various grasses and other plants (see the species' pages at UK Fly Mines and Plant Miners of Europe).
Identified using the unpublished key of Drake, 2006 (updated in 2013).
Specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK on 2019-12-25.
Tue 2019-12-03 
What I think are youngish fruiting bodies of split gill fungus, Schizophyllum commune.
Mycoweb has some good images of young fruiting bodies here.
I took the following specimens which show the characteristic split gill:
These yielded the following spores (magnification x600, field width 86um):
These are about 5 x 1.5um which is rather longer than the 3-4 x 1-1.5µ given at MushroomExpert.com but they also state "sometimes reported as larger: 5.5-7 x 2-2.5µ".
Specimens taken in The Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK on 2019-11-30.
Sun 2019-12-01 
White saddle fungus, Helvella crispa, one of several growing on the ground under an oak tree.
This one had more of a 'saddle' top:
I took it as a specimen:
It yielded the following spores (mgnification x600, image width 86um):
These are about 16x11um which agrees well with the 16-21 x 10-14um given at MushroomExpert.com.
Specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2019-11-30.
