Hare In The Air

I read my entry for 2nd April 2015 this morning. I'd photographed hares and included Hares At Play by John Clare and make no apologies for posting it again.

The birds are gone to bed, the cows are still,
And sheep lie panting on each old mole-hill;
And underneath the willow's grey-green bough,
Like toil a-resting, lies the fallow plough
And timid hares throw daylight fears away
On the lane's road to dust and dance and play,
Then dabble in the grain by naught deterred
To lick the dew-fall from the barley's beard;
Then out they sturt again and round the hill
Like happy thoughts dance, squat, and loiter still,
Till milking maidens in the early morn
Gingle their yokes and sturt them in the corn;
Through well-known beaten paths each nimbling hare
Sturts quick as fear, and seeks its hidden lair.


From the poem it can be seen that if one wants to see hares at play one should go early or late. I went to Lodge Farm fairly early. I could see the hares playing before I even got out of the car. It was so beautiful there this morning, that and the songs of the larks made me feel quite tearful. I saw hares boxing for the first time, though they were well in the distance. I have read that the boxing is not between males competing for females but females rebutting males anxious to copulate. The boxing isn't large throws but volleys of quick fire punches.


I've added a couple of images to extras, one of which has five hares in shot. The young wheat had obviously been sprayed with something that has given it a reddish tinge.