Close but not touching

When I look above my head into the canopy, I love the patterns made by tall trees which grow close together but somehow without their branches quite touching. I hadn't walked in the woods for quite some time, and the bright morning made me want to enjoy dappled shade. The track was very muddy of course, after the past few days' of heavy rain, but I enjoyed the green gloom broken by patches of brilliant light.

It was the last day to record butterfly sightings for the Big Butterfly Count. In the garden, I recorded the usual red admirals, peacocks and large whites, a lovely comma, meadow browns, small coppers and a gatekeeper, and was particularly pleased to see two speckled wood butterflies, which I've not seen in the garden before. However, this year I have still seen no painted ladies or small tortoiseshells.