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Friday, 3 May 2013

Brown Hare and Signs of Spring

A couple of shots of Brown Hare taken in the same field, but one was produced on 3rd May 2011 and the other produced earlier this week on 30th April 2013. Clearly the growth is behind, but I suspect if the weather warms up and it remains sunny things will soon catch up.


03D-2590a Brown Hare Lepus europaeus.
If you were a hare you had to stand up to see what was going on in 2011



06D-5309a Brown Hare Lepus europaeus in Newly Sown Wheat Crop UK
Nowhere to hide at the moment though



06D-5314 Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus Leaves Illuminated by Early Morning Spring Sunshine UK.
It is nice to see the trees are starting to come into leaf as well.  Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus leaves illuminated by early morning spring sunshine

It really is a pleasure at the moment to head out before dawn to do some wildlife photography and then return for breakfast just as everyone else is heading off to work. Spring is definitely my favourite time of year.


Text and Images Copyright David Forster/www.bluestoneimages.com
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4 comments:

  1. Because They're There9 May 2013 at 13:53

    That's a great picture, the top one. It's a hare with attitude.

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    1. David10 May 2013 at 02:23

      Cheers Alen. The top one does seem to have a bit of a "who are you looking at" attitude doesn't it. They certainly lack the cuteness of a rabbit that's for sure.

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  2. Mark24 May 2013 at 13:22

    Great photos.
    We don't see many hares around here, although I have once or twice so I know that they're out there. We have a lot of rabbits - I don't know whether that would have an impact on hare numbers.
    I think there's something much more elemental and mysterious about hare's when compared to rabbits, not sure why, but that first photo captures something of that.

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    1. David3 June 2013 at 02:04

      Sorry for the delay in relying Mark I have been enjoying a couple of weeks in the pouring rain in France.

      That is an interesting thought about rabbit densities and brown hare numbers and your observation of plenty of rabbits but few hares is probably down to suitable habitat.

      For example hare do not live in burrows so there is no conflict in that sense and there is no competition food wise. Habitat therefore will probably be the key to lower densities where you are, as brown hare prefer mixed crop arable land with good cover rather than the pasture/grassland habitat that rabbit prefer. That is not to say you won't see hare in rabbit habitat and vice versa it is just the densities will vary. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

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