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I collected something that looks remarkably similar sheltering under the external frame of my kitchen window this morning. I haven't had a chance to look at it properly, but it is at least as big as Nikita's specimen (possibly larger), with a row of very white spots down the centre of the abdomen. We live very close to a large area of marshland.

I am having similar time management problems as Nikita - my fridge is rapidly filling with flies I don't have time to do anything more with. We have guests at the moment, who are 'manfully' ignoring the flies in the cheese compartment and on the top shelf. At what stage is it recommended to get a separate fridge for the wildlife?

Xespok's information about the deer is really fascinating. We have also had an extremely cold and wet May, but have just had the hottest June days on record in southern England. I was in Suffolk, studying some of the opposition (bumblebees) for my university course - would you believe it - it was too hot for them and we struggled to get a good range of species.