Wildlife Photographic Journals

August Hares

With a thick layer of snow outside and gloomy light from the dense grey clouds overhead, I thought I would stay warm inside this morning and get on with processing some of my summer hare images. I did not realise until I start sifting through the raw files how productive my August efforts at photographing hares had been. As usual I applied a stringent selection criteria on which files would be retained and which were destined for the Desktop trash bin.

The pursuit of summer hares requires some very early starts to ensure that I am out and in position at first light.

The hares always seem more relaxed during the summer with the main surge of maddening spring hormones subsided. This allows for some very close encounters particularly when they are preoccupied feeding.

I am often on the look out for hares grooming their fur in the early morning light as they can produce some unusual poses.

and which often culminates in a brief bout of 'shadow boxing'.

The coats of the adult hares may not look at the best at this time of year but there is the added bonus of leverets being present. Photographing leverets is not an easy task and they always remind me of a turbo-charged guinea pig when in motion.

I have noted that once found leverets will often remain in a fairly localised area for a while. This assists in finding them in follow-up sessions.

To finish of my hare photos for 2010, a young one in full dawn 'flight'.

It has been a great pleasure spending a good deal of time with these wonderful animals this year and I am sure our paths will cross once more in 2011.