I like a bit of marmalade on my post

...the weather this morning was, frankly, disgusting! Rain and wind followed by heavier rain and stronger wind. Not that it mattered too much because we have spent the day washing, cleaning, packing and preparing for our trip to Italy. Consequently, even when the rain stopped and the sun finally made an appearance late this afternoon, I only had time to find a blip within a short walk from the house. Although the rain had stopped, the wind hadn't and there wasn't much about. I spotted this little hoverfly and took four frames but the grass was blowing all over the place. I decided to return home and find something more mundane, only, on checking the images, this one turned out to be nearly in focus. So, here is [probably] a humble Marmalade hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus. The reason I hesitate with my identification is that she has a few features that I have not seen on this species before - so, I would be very happy to be corrected.

This is my last blip from the UK for three weeks and I am looking forward to seeing what interesting subjects I can find in France and Italy...