An early morning Hare wash

[JeffH]

Before going into work this morning I called in at a fairly new balancing pond on the edge of our village to do a bit of a recce and with a view to perhaps constructing a Kingfisher nesting bank there (with the landowners permission of course!)

Whilst there I spotted this Hare by the water's edge apparently shadow boxing with itself - there were certainly no others around -



The Hare was so wrapped up in its activities that it didn't see me approaching until I got quite near to it, at which point it took off like a rocket running through the shallows and giving me the opportunity to fire off a sequence of shots as it did so. Here they are - I hope you like them -











Jeff

[djackso]

Wow - all that before work.

Wonderful!

[ron1863]

Brilliant shots Jeff. Was the water really shallow or is it's name Jesus

[Ollie]

Great action shots Jeff, well caught.
Roger

[ellen h]

Lovely shots!!!
ellen

[JeffH]

Thanks to djackso, ron1863, Ollie (Roger) and ellen h for your kind remarks.

The balancing pond in question has only been in place for just over a year but already shows enormous potential as a haven for wildlife.

When I called in earlier in the week I was only there for about 20 minutes but, in addition to the Hare, I saw a Grey Heron, Moorhens, Coots, Little Grebes, Ringed Plovers, a solitary Snipe plus a flight of about a dozen Greylag Geese and a Cormorant flying overhead.

I was so impressed that I decided to go back at first light this morning and to spend a couple of hours in my dome hide to see what turned up.

Again I watched a Heron fishing, numerous small waders and heard (but didn't see ) a Kingfisher. However, best of all was the sight of two Little Egrets flying in low as if intending to land but then being chased off by the Heron!

Then, just as I was about to pack up and leave, a Hare walked right in front of my hide (less than two feet away from me!) sniffing the air but completely oblivious to my presence. Here's a couple of photos -





Jeff

[aeshna5]

Excellent sequence of Hare photos-I've not seen them in water like this before. A mad August Hare, no doubt!

[djackso]

Excellent shots. Thanks you for sharing those - what a view you had, well done

[deer boy]

Wonderful shots sounds like a great place

[colincurry]

Super sequence - is this one of the new development ponds near us, Jeff? Sounds interesting.

Colin