Hares of Havergate Island
Hares are magical creatures and high on the list of most UK wildlife photographers wish list, and I am always looking out for opportunity to photograph them.
Wildlife photography in the UK very often seems to mean ‘bird photography’. We are lucky to have a wide variety of birds in just about every corner of the country, so it is not surprising they become the ‘usual suspects’ for photography. Birds are hugely enjoyable subjects, but from time to time I like to search out some of the UK’s animal species. Top of the list is always the hare.
They are magnificent animals - somehow aloof in the looks they give you. In the rain and damp of an early morning they look the essence of hardy survivors that they truly are. Give them a little sunshine to doze in though and they fluff up and look adorable.
I have hares quite local to me, but they are close to an area where people walk their dogs and it is rare to get any undisturbed time with the hares - normally my view is as they bolt.
I have been fortunate to see them on the South Downs, and while I have had some lovely sightings these have not given me the photographic moments that I crave. My wife treated me to a day with a photographer in Norfolk early in my wildlife photography days - a great day but I have never believed my skills matched the opportunity. And so the search continues.
That search led me to Havergate Island, an RSPB reserve in Suffolk that is only accessible by boat, and so has limited visits. The island has a small population of hares that enjoy an area feee from predators. The RSPB website promised close encounters with the hares, and a photographic trip with limited numbers to minimise the chance of disturbing the hares.
So off I went to Suffolk.
The trip was a hoot. Led by friendly, helpful volunteers who wanted to make sure those of us on the trip got the best chance of great shots. I can’t thank them enough for their kindness and occasional coffee. I went inFebruary - perhaps not the most auspicious month to head off to the East Anglia coast but needs must. It was an overcast day with a ‘brisk’ wind.
Just about as soon as we stepped onto the jetty on the island there were hares to be seen. The hares see small groups of people come and go and seem to treat you as part of their landscape - remarkably once you settle in a spot they just ignore you. The wind meant the hares had one goal in mind - keeping out of it! Admittedly this meant they were all the more reluctant to move out from a sheltered area, and all the more approachable.
I say ‘approachable’ but the high point of my day was when a hare chose to approach me. They ambled out from behind a bush where I was lying and sat right down next to me. The hare glanced at me, decided I was no threat, and started to alternate between sitting and preening. What a privilege to be so close to such a beautiful creature. Our RSPB guide, Steve Everett, captured the hare on video - https://youtu.be/oOI70c9j_VA (the orange soled shoe is mine).
Fortunately I had a zoom lens - a quick twist to go from 600mm to 200mm and I was still filling the frame with this friendly hare.
I spent some of the time on the island just sitting and looking a the hares without taking shots - they really were content to let us in to their world and to have us sit with them. And that was the magical time to spend with these gorgeous animals. I will certainly go back.