Hare

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 I have been looking for an opportunity for months to photograph a hare. I don't see them often and when I do they move off so quickly that they are hard to photograph. Yesterday at Tarn Sike I got a distant shot of a hare which I show here heavily cropped. I promise to get a better photograph and update this in the future.


There are two  (maybe three!) species of hare in the uk. The brown hare which is what I saw, and the mountain (or blue) hare which turns white in winter. There is a mountain hare in Ireland which some people think is different from the one found in N England and Scotland (which would be the third species.).
Superficially hares resemble rabbits but have much larger ears, much longer back legs, and they are generally bigger animals. Hares have a particular gait and move at tremendous speed so they are easy to recognise once they break cover. Unlike rabbits hares do not use burrows but sleep in depressions in grassland called "forms". Hares prefer open grassland.Hares are solitary animals whereas rabbits are social animals. I keep watching out for hares "boxing" in the Spring (this is the female fighting off the male because she is not ready to mate) but so far I haven't witnessed this.

Diary
I spent some time by Sunbiggin Tarn yesterday. Snipe drumming, heron, little grebe, oystercatcher, mute swan, mallard, black headed gull. I have a friend who lives near there who complained that his house was "under attack" by oystercatchers! They have been pecking at their reflections in his windows from dawn to dusk! I needed some convincing so he sent me this photograph.
I have to believe it now I see it in black and white!




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