Wed 2012-12-12 
From back in April: flowers of lady's smock, Cardamine pratensis. Also sometimes called cuckoo flower, and I have vague memories of people calling it milk-maid when I was young. See here for more of my early memories of this plant.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-04-11.
Tue 2012-12-11 
From back in the summer-time: a male banded demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens (Odonata: Calopterygidae).
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-07-11.
Mon 2012-12-10 
From back in April: flowers of a cowslip, Primula veris.
The full plant looked like this:
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-04-27.
Sun 2012-12-09 
A purplish-grey crust fungus, probably Peniophora quercina, growing on a fallen oak twig.
I took this twig home with me and, with an elastic band, strapped a microscope slide over the fungus to catch any spores it released. I then placed it slide downwards in a small plastic tub, added a couple of drops of water to keep it damp, and left it sealed overnight. On the following day there was a faint reddish film of spores on the slide. I added a drop of water and then a cover-slip. The microscope revealed the spores to be shaped like slightly bent sausages, which is consistent with the 'curved cylindric, 8-12 x 3-4um' given for the spores of P. quercina. Here they are at x600 magnification:
The original specimen was taken from Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-06.
Sat 2012-12-08 
From back in late spring: rivalry between two male Tephritis neesii (Diptera: Tephritidae).
For the successful one the outcome is mating with a female:
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-05-30.
