With the Winter Aconites at peak and the early crocuses beginning to come up in huge drifts—this looks like a fine, fine crocus season—I've been on the lookout for the first bees and a chance to put my bee guide to good use. No sooner did I voice this thought when it appeared that the bee gods had provided an answer on this nicely warmer day. But when I examined the candidate in my 85mm micro lens, I quickly realized that the supposed hymenopteran was actually dipteran: a fly, not a bee. The large, chunky insect had short antennae and two wings, rather than two pairs, so it was clearly a Flower Fly, a bee mimic and a member of the Syrphidae, critters that are definite on my "learn more about" taxonomic bucket list. I have a fine identification key to this group, and after quite a bit of looking, I think I've ID'd it as a member of the Eristalis clan, possibly Eristalis tenax, a.k.a., the Common Drone Fly. Of course, being certain will take more study. Equally of course, I'm looking forward to this.