Chironomid Fly

I noticed this small fly on our kitchen window yesterday morning.  The feathery antennae are characteristic of the dipteran family Chironomidae (non-biting midges).  I am not going to even attempt to narrow down the classification any further.

Red Fly with a Yellow Face

A Conopid fly, probably Sicus ferrugineus.  These flies lay their eggs on bumble bees.  Myopa buccata looks similar but has a much longer face (see here, here and here for details).

Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-11.

Big-Eyed Hoverfly

At first I thought this was Leucozona lucorum on the basis of its brown scutellum.  However closer scrutiny revealed that the front two long veins on the wings meet before they reach the wing-edge, which is characteristic of Volucella pellucens (Complete British Insects, M. Chinery, Collins, 2005, page 312).  My guess is that vein pattern is less subject to intraspecific variability than scutellum colour, so I will go with the identification as Volucella pellucens.

Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-11.

Young Mandarin Duck

A young mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) and its mother.  Initially I assumed that these were wood ducks (Aix sponsa) but I now see that the mother has the 'mandarin whiskers' on its cheeks, and the white line at the base of the beak does not continue over the top, as it tends to in female wood ducks.

Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-11.

Fly

[Note added 2009-06-27:  I have now tentatively identified this as Coenosia humilis (family Muscidae, order Diptera), based on comparison with photos here, here, here and here.  Articles here and here (pdf) mention the use of this predatory species to control pests in greenhouses.]

A dipteran fly, I have no idea of its species, genus, or even family.  It was in long grass.

Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-10.