Horsetail

A fertile shoot of horsetail, Equisetum arvense.

I took a specimen home with me.  This is a close-up of the sporangiophores:

It yielded spherical spores of about 50x50um (magnification x600, field width 86um):

Some seemed to be entangled with some tubular structures:

First photo and specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Lichen

A branched lichen, probably Evernia prunastri, on an oak branch.

I took a specimen home with me:

First photo and sample taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Leaf-Spot Fungus

Light-brown spots on leaves of Arum maculatum, probably caused by the fungus Spermosporina aricola.

I took the following leaf home with me to look at more closely:

This is a close-up of the spots on the upper surface:.

And this is the lower surface:

Unfortunately I was unable to get any spores from them.

First photo and specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-05.

Moth

A small metallic moth, an Eriocrania sp, probably Eriocrania subpurpurella (Lepidoptera: Eriocraniidae).  This was one of several that were flying around some bushes in a clearing near an oak tree (oak being the host plant for the larvae of E. subpurpurella).

I took two specimens home with me.  One had lots of purple dots on its wings (this must be the fastuosella form mentioned and illustrated here):

And the other had only one or two purple spots (this is the common form):

First photo and specimens taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Hoverfly

A female Eristalis pertinax (Diptera: Syrphidae). See here for the identifying features.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-05.