Thu 2010-01-21 
From late last spring: a male hoverfly, probably Meliscaeva auricollis (Diptera: Syrphidae), on a buttercup flower (Ranunculus sp.). For a photo of another Meliscaeva species see here.
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-05-29.
Wed 2010-01-20 
From just over a week ago: ducks in the snow beside the middle lake. The snow has been around for almost 2 weeks but is now thawing fast and will probably be all gone in a day or two.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-01-09.
Tue 2010-01-19 Robert Llewellyn is probably best known for playing Kryten in Red Dwarf. At his web-site Llewtube he has a series of interviews with various interesting people, including several scientists such as Ben Goldacre, Alice Roberts, Brian Cox, and (very topical) Susan Greenfield. The format of interviewing people in a car seems to work very well.
Tue 2010-01-19 
A male Sphaerophoria scripta hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae).
Two features mark it out as a male: firstly the large eyes which meet at the top of the head (in females there is a gap between the eyes), and secondly the long straight-sided, blunt-ended abdomen which extends well beyond the tip of the wings when they are folded (in females the abdomen is fat in the middle and tapers to a point at the tip).
According to Michael Chinery (Complete British Insects, Collins, 2005), in S. scripta "There is always a yellow stripe on each side of the thorax but the abdominal markings vary a great deal". As an illustration of the latter point, compare the above photo with the one here.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-25.
Mon 2010-01-18 
A flower photo from last summer: field scabious (Knautia arvensis). The name scabious derives from the plant being used to treat skin diseases such as scabies. This is what its stem and leaves look like:
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-16.
