Banded General

I spent much of the day at Castor Hanglands NNR training a group of ecologists - overcast, but rather humid so more tiring than it should have been. Although I took the camera there was no time to take any photographs. 

Back in the garden, I spotted this Banded General flying round our largest pond, one of two species of soldier-flies that have small but established populations. It eventually settled and I manged to snatch a few shots, though the light was pretty appalling. 

This is our most widespread soldier-fly and certainly the most frequent inland, though is nevertheless localised and scarce in most districts. It's associated with a variety of non-brackish wetland types, especially seepage-fed marsh, the margins of waterbodies, fens, wet meadows, ditches and the wet parts of woods. It's good to know that most sites are characterised by good water-quality!