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Looks like a remarkably fine specimen of kingdommius johnii (in fine breeding plumage) to me !!!

Have to go along with that incisive bit of identification looseleaf....bit worried about the full breeding plumage though !!!

I have a question.

We've had the patio doors open all summer so the house has been full of insects. I've spent a lot of time rescuing them and putting them back outside.

Insects tend to run or fly away so it's difficult to catch them. But Syrphid flies - hoverflies - are dramatically different.

We've had at least five different types of Syrphid in the house, probably a hundred in total over the summer, and every single one of them happily climbed onto my finger and sat there calmly until I'd taken it outdoors.

Does anyone know why they're so 'friendly' compared to other insects?

We LOVE hoverflies (and they our tiny London balcony!) - but I had no idea they were quite so 'friendly'! Something new for us to experience, hopefully ... Regards, TB/EB.

I know that there have been reports of giant house spiders this year. I thought we might start a little contest to find the largest house spider? My 15 year old son came over all girlie when a 7cm (diameter) beauty crept out from under the sofa! Sadly I didn't have the foresight to document it. I am a little scared of spiders but have to admit they are magnificent creatures and very helpful pest controllers, and am happy to share my house with them, hoping they keep their distance.
Any takers?

Question:

Do animals get confused by heatwaves late in the year like the one we had recently? Do they (e.g. squirrels) continue to collect their food or does their routine change temporarily?

EmmyPendle - I've always been fascinated by spiders so if I see a giant one, I will take a snap of it!

P.S. We always catch house spiders and let them out but this year has been the first time I have seen one pretend to play dead! Not sure if this is common...

After downloading a video, a message says 'invalid email address' when I know it's not (and was typed correctly!)- does this mean the video didn't download?

We have several families of deer that live in our woodland and see them all the time, however, we have a lone deer, never with any others who also lives in our wood and constantly is venturing into our garden to eat. Is it usual for a deer to be so lonesome???! Feel sorry for it...

Having, unusually for me, watched Unsprung last night and heard the "policy statement" on viewers' photos that Chris was made to read out I now realise that you are applying the same principle to your choice of guest presenters. Don't worry about the quality as long as it's "interesting".

I saw unsprung last night on the i player and was dissapointed that the camera operators appeared to have come from a recent cookery programme. Chris Packham has a lovely head but I don't want to see it from the back when Micheala is the subject. Please please put the camera's on a tri pod and show us pictures like we would see if we were sat opposite them and not on a rotating platform.