Sun 2011-10-09 
A blue female wasp on an oak leaf: probably an Ormyrus sp, possibly Ormyrus nitidulus = Ormyrus tubulosus (Hymenoptera: Ormyridae) based on comparison with images half-way down this page.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-10-07.
Sat 2011-10-08 
A blue female calliphorid fly from our summer holiday in 2010: possibly Protocalliphora azurea (Diptera: Calliphoridae) but I always find the identification of these blue Calliphorids very difficult. Roger Thomason suggested P. azurea here. but all the photos on the web seem to show the females as distinctly greenish (though the males are bluer).
Susan R. Walter has some useful tips on distinguishing Protocalliphora from the similar Protophormia here.
Photo taken in Bousdale, near Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK, on 2010-08-08.
Fri 2011-10-07 
A Linnaemya sp (Diptera: Tachinidae), possibly L. tessellans or L. picta (ID by Chris Raper here).
Up until last year, Linnaemya picta had only been found in continental Europe but not in Britain. Then, in 2010, it was found first in Kent and later in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. If my photos are L. picta it could mean that this species has now spread westward to the Thames valley. For more details of the discussion of these photos see here. For more details on how to identify L.picta see here.
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-09-21.
Thu 2011-10-06 
A fungus growing on an ear of grass: probably an ergot, Claviceps sp. The most famous Claviceps is C. purpurea which is reputed to have caused for mass poisonings when it got into bread in the middle ages.
Photo taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2011-09-19.
Wed 2011-10-05 
Another small orange fly: probably Euthycera fumigata (family Sciomyzidae, order Diptera). E. fumigata is the only Eucythera species on the UK checklist.
Photos taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2011-09-27.
