Today was going to be a shorter walk than usual. Light like this was too good to miss.
When I got back to the visitor centre the long tailed tits had just woken up. They descended on the feeder and the bird table as if they hadn't eaten in a week.
At one point I counted nine. A pair sat away to the side watching the feast.
They were joined by a marsh tit hopping in the bough of a nearby oak tree
The light was gorgeous. Shame I didn't do it justice.
That afternoon I had an appointment in Bungay, just up the Waveney valley. I decided to have lunch with the camera and go looking for hares. I didn't have to look far. I spotted some boxing in a ploughed field right next to the A143 and turned off on a side road signposted to the 100th BG memorial. Spun the car round and parked it up the bank and found a window of sorts between some straggly hedge whippets. The hares didn't seem fussed. They stopped boxing but ran around like loons and came within 20 feet of the car.
What is it about hares? They're in some way mystical, reminding me of summer solstace and all those earth gods that pagans used to worship. To the uninitiated they look like big bunnies, but they couldn't be more different. Alluring. Evocative. Expressive. Nuts.
This one sprinted across the field then stopped dead for no apparent reason, other than he could. They'll sit there sunning themselves, minding their own business, for ten, twenty minutes then without warning pick a fight with the nearest hare. I watched one male chase a female round and round and round, weaving and jinxing as though they had an invisible bungee strap between them, for a good five minutes. He really didn't get the message.
It's my project of winter/spring 2010 to get a photo of boxing hares for Kee. She loves them, I think that's where my fascination with them comes from. Come to think of it there are a lot of similarities from my description of them...
It was only when I downloaded the camera yesterday that I discovered a photo I'd taken at the end of January, last Friday. I'd been for a walk as usual, and being a cold damp morning there really wasn't much to see. When I got to the far end of the fen the geese were just lifting off for the morning. I took one photo, as much because I thought I ought to, and gave it no more thought.
I'm realy chuffed with it. It's said you shouldn't avoid bad weather as you never know what opportunities will come your way. I wish I could say I planned this shot, but unfortunately it was a case of honk, tripod down, unlock camera, focus, click, gone. Happy days.
No comments:
Post a Comment