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I finally made it to Trench Wood this morning, for the first time this summer. The woodland worked its usual magic on me, and I spent a couple of peaceful and mindful hours there,  wandering in the sunshine and looking for insects. 

I didn't have an especially good day with the camera, but I was pleased with this portrait of a female Populicerus populi, which is one of my favourite leafhoppers. She wasn't keen to be photographed and kept darting round to the far side of the twig, so I had to hold the camera with my right hand and the end of the twig with my left, and twiddle about (that's a technical term, by the way) until the blessed moment when she appeared in the viewfinder and the autofocus caught hold. At which point she seemed to admit defeat, and stayed still while I rattled off a burst of frames. I then restored the twig to its normal orientation (being careful not to let go too quickly and catapult her across the glade), apologised for the intrusion, thanked her politely for the photos, and tiptoed away.

After lunch I mowed the top lawn, and got the whole thing done, including the edges, in less than half an hour. Speed gardening: it's the way of the future.

R: C3, D11.