Hoverflies, a.k.a. flower flies, have become my new favorites this summer, largely because of the publication of Jeff Skevington et al.'s new field guide to the syrphids. I've been using the book every day, and I'm getting to know the group better and better. This one I already was familiar with, from Jeff's earlier introduction. It's called Toxomerus, and it's a little gem that can fly in place for several seconds at a time before landing and showing off its nicely marked abdomen and the patterns that give the group its common name of Calligraphers. You can't see the calligraphy here, but you can see how enticing a photographic target the flier is. Imagine trying to capture a hummingbird in mid-flight... then shrink the target many-fold and see what you can do. Most of the shots, of course, don't do the job; this one, however, isn't too far off.