A new photography location
February 6th 2020
A morning when I had some time to do photography had come around.
I left with enough time to park at the site around dawn; this is not a particularly early start this time of year, I grant you, at least in the context of wildlife photography, but this was a new location for me and only if it had promise would I have the discipline to forego that little bit of extra sleep and arrive any earlier than that. I had already decided on the location: I spend a fair amount of time comparing satellite views of my local area and Ordnance Survey maps, trying to find potential locations, so I generally always have a list of places to visit for when the time allows.
The walk started in a village and the first part of the path seemed like a popular walking spot, but this soon gave way to the type of country walk where you need an OS map to know where the path is meant to be: there was a distinct lack of footpath signs or worn tracks and I had the area to myself (bliss!). There was a nice feel to the place, if that makes sense; one part reminded me of a field where I used to photograph hares near Bath, in that both are bordered by fenced-off woods that seem to be left to their own devices (the best type of woodlands in my opinion).
I found some fur that could have been from a rabbit or hare: my guess would be hare origin as I also found two isolated faecal pellets nearby that were by size and shape definitely from either of these two lagomorph species. And the fact that they were single pellets rather than a large pile makes them more likely to be from a hare, as rabbits tend to create latrines and hares do not; so I was hoping that hares lived there.
Of course there is no telling what caused the hare to lose some fur: it could have been mating, in which case the hare population may be set to increase, or it could have been predation and thus potentially the opposite effect, depending on who won that challenge, predator or prey. But it showed that a hare, or at least possibly a hare, lived there recently and may or may not continue to live there. The fur was covered in frost and naturally I decided the logical thing to do was to lie on my front, on the freezing cold grass/mud, to photograph it, then take it home as a memento.
Then several fields on I saw a hare. It was an adult, and he or she bolted from a hedge and ran across the field, pausing to stand up on its hindlimbs (I've read that this is a signal to say "I have seen you and know I can out-run you, and am demonstrating my vigour to you so don't bother trying to chase me"). The photo is not a particularly good one but I was so pleased to have seen a hare in a new location after a very enjoyable walk on a crisp (euphemism for "freezing cold") winter morning. After all, the purpose of this walk was a scouting mission: I was not under any self-imposed pressure to get a photo, and I enjoy just seeing wildlife- there doesn't always have to be a great photo to show for it.
Definitely a place to go back to.
