Fera

A day that just disappeared. Our computer man came in the morning, having had to cancel a visit earlier in the month. My desktop had been playing up a bit during the report writing, the screen just turning black for a few seconds before returning with no data lost, and he confirmed my suspicion that the graphic card needed updating. He and Ben are now going to keep an eye out for a reasonable deal - because of the chip shortage cards are currently very expensive and often in short supply.

I had planned to fit in a walk, but the continuing overcast conditions, with a cool northerly wind, didn't entice me, so I pottered in the garden instead. The marjoram is still quite busy, but this bristly fly was the only photograph I took. Tachina fera can often be seen in moist and well vegetated locations (certainly describes our garden this year) where it feeds on umbellifers and waterside plants during May to September. The larvae are parasites of caterpillars and other young insects.