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I really did think I may have missed out on the action shots during lockdown with my local hares. But I wasn't too late however as they are still boxing, chasing and putting on a show.

I was just a little too far away, just a little slow on the uptake but it is the closest I have got to date of real "fisty" cuff action shots.



The fur flew, the grunts were audible and the tenacity of the ardent male was to be admired.. he certainly took a few thumps before he gave in to the fact she just wasn't interested.

No means no!

I confess to being rather over excited and giddy at the prospect of being allowed outdoors, for unlimited time, since Boris made the announcement for easing lockdown restrictions on Sunday.

Where should I go first with the camera, will the hares still be there? What will have changed in terms of habitat? So a 4.30am start didn't faze me as basically I had barely slept a wink all night in eager anticipation of hitting the fields as soon as possible.

Yes, the fields had changed a lot over the last two months, crops that weren't there before are now a healthy foot taller making only tops of ears visible. Spray from an overhead irrigation system sprinkler was also a damp, drawback for the hares and I but at least I could breath a sigh of relief, the hares were there!



Despite the chilly, brisk breeze life seems to have carried on regardless with hares, they were still boxing and romping happily along the ploughed tram lines. I unwittingly lurked by a hawthorn hedge out of the prevailing winds and strike lucky with a female hare who came to check in on her well hidden leverets. She was calm and curious in equal measure to her youngster's was excitement and exuberance at seeing her.



I laid low and shared a few precious moments with them before slithering away to leave them in peace but what a perfect start to the day and hope for better things to come.

Using my permitted, daily, exercise time I have been scanning every field and lane in the hope of finding a location, where I may be able to get some photos of early morning antics, baby rabbit style. It's not been easy, I have been wondering where have all the rabbits gone and whether they too were in lockdown.

That was until this morning when my spirits were lifted and I found a sweet pair of ears or two in the dewy grass. A happy find to maybe pass a few hours or so during our splendid isolation.

I do rather enjoy trumpeting the worth of small, brown birds, who are so often overlooked in favour of brighter, bigger and bolder birds. So following on from my wren observations last year,I've decided to follow them again and photograph one on as many different perches as possible.

My own resident, garden wren, has been very busy, building a cosy nest in the cart shed. Using all the moss plucked from my plant pots it has fashioned a new abode using an old swallow nest as its' stable foundation. However it was never going to last as within days the moss started to fall to the ground and now that the swallows have arrived it's game over for the wren construction company.

I'm not sure where they finally set up home but the wrens are still singing so obviously they must have found a more desirable location. Meanwhile I am on constant twitch for when one or other of the wrens pops up to have their photograph taken.

If it wasn't for the immediate alarm cry of the ever observant blue tit or blackbird I may not remember to look above me to see what's going on.

As I have been waiting for my bank voles to appear and perform, above me a rather beautiful, female kestrel often hovers silently on the wing. Mostly unsuccessful in the hunt for food she gracefully returns to one of many favourite perches around the field to remain alert and hopeful for the next opportunity to pounce.

At first I thought a couple of rather large wasps were sunning themselves on the garden fence. I realised after a short while they were of course queen wasps and were actually very busy.

Time after time they would settle on the fence before flying off to return a short time later.

Getting close enough to the with my macro lens and putting something between them and my face was a little daunting but also reassuring that I was reasonably protected. However, by zooming in on them I realised there were chewing on fine splinters of wood, mashing between their powerful jaws to turn it into pulp from which they will build their new hives.




Despite numerous attempts to see where they were flying off after each wood pulp collecting mission I am not totally reassured at how close they have decided to build their new colony..I am hoping I am not about to have two lots of invited neighbours moving in this summer.

I have every confidence that our local hares will still be there in a few weeks time once the need for isolation is over and we have more freedom to travel, albeit 10 minutes in the car up the road! On the plus side it's often when the crops have grown and escape routes more confined to tracks and plough lines I find it easier to get a chance photo or two of hares going about their day to day activity.



Nevertheless, this time of year is when a lot of the action happens, especially being able to see small groups of hares who are more usually solitary.

I did have an early morning outing earlier in March and managed to bag these few shots. The spring light was lovely and gentle, pastel colours are my taste for backdrops and the hares were way to occupied with each other than to worry about my presence.

It's difficult staying within the confines of the garden and home during these challenging times especially as at this time of year there is so much happening out there. But stay put we must.

Whilst not being able to go to the fields for hares, or to the Gressenhall Museum Farm for just about everything else, I am trying to record the daily visitations by Vernon the bank vole in our garden. I know there are several Vernons who come calling beneath the bird table but it's so much simpler to call them all the same name.
In truth its a mutual benefit for us both as they don't complain, just as long as there are some sunflower hearts to feast on.

Nobody likes a show off but at this time of year it's probably a case of whatever it takes do it in order to catch the ladies eye!



One of the cock pheasants who patrols the boundaries of our garden is currently doing a song and dance routine most early mornings and again in the evening. So far it would seem he has only impressed himself but he looks to be the tenacious type and obviously has the X Factor so guess its only a matter of time until he makes the girls swoon!

As temperatures become milder and the rain has at last stopped, there is the hint of spring in the air.Perhaps that's why there is suddenly a little more activity in the garden.

A rotten tree trunk grown now covered in moss has become a very good spy hole for the wood mice. I think they see me coming down the garden to top up the bird feeders and a sentry is obviously posted to give out the alarm call that peanuts are coming!



Lurking in the vegetable beds the bank voles have also found a suitable feeding spot just beside the old wooden sleeper supporting the rhubarb bed. Again taking advantage of the fussiness of the birds that drop so much discarded seed they are having daily feasts of sunflower hearts.

Not all little feet are quite so welcome in our garden though as meanwhile the lawn is sadly beginning to look like a lunar landscape as the moles are busy excavating the grass.

Over the festive holidays bullfinches have been gathering in the silver birch on my lawn resembling christmas tree baubles and basically brightening up the dullest of days.

The males are now looking their best, sporting their seasonal best pink wardrobe and shadowing the also rather glamorous but slightly less vibrant female of choice.



They are however very bullish in nature, shooing off any other bird on the feeders.As one of the largest size finches they don't stand any nonsense and use their colour and size to their best advantage. Eating with their beaks crammed full often with several black sunflower seeds at a time they don't possess the same table manners as one may have wished for.

They also are not natural posers so it's taken a while to get a few on of these images together.

Stocks are running low on the windfall, cooking apples that I "recovered/ rescued" from my friend Jane's orchard earlier this year.

The blackbirds have made short work of them and haven't really wanted to stay on board with eating and posing for my camera at the same time. As ever, the blue tits being so much bolder than their size don't let the clicking of a camera put them off a potential sweet treat.

Following on from my last update, and note to self it's been a while, I am beginning to get a little quicker on the shutter capturing jumping jays.

It is made more difficult by the four jays, that are now coming in, all have a different style of jumping off the post. One jumps high, one jumps low, one just hops and another dive bombs..it is hard enough trying to take the picture let alone tell which one is going to do what!




Still I like a challenge!

I love a project!

At the moment I am trying to get a perfect image of a jay landing on one of my posts in front of my hide. The frosty mornings have been a gift with lovely light, added texture and very active, hungry birds flying in with great regularity. Jays are incredibly intelligent birds and it doesn't take them long to suss out a fast, food feast.



I am not quite quick enough on the shutter yet to get the full action shots I am after but practise makes perfect, so as long as I have a good stock of peanuts I am prepared to wait out the wintery mornings to come.

When the rain is coming down cats and dogs, the wind is howling and everything seems to be either wet or moving it's no wonder our wood shed mice look for something safe, warm and hopefully water tight.



I think I have a healthy population of yellow necked mice, they can certainly jump when they want to but they could of course be wood mice. Either way they are super sweet, super friendly and super quick on their toes if they want to run. As long as they remain outdoors they are very welcome garden residents.



I've been trying to get some silhouette shots of them for something a little different. Their autumn coats of course look wonderful with the rich colours of the falling leaves, hopefully they will be a few more dry days to come to add to this mousey portfolio I am trying to build.

It has been a while since my last blog, lots of reasons really but August isn't my favourite month to do any photography. The birds are usually in eclipse and the fields busy with harvest, fertilising and digging so all my usual subjects aren't willing to pose for the camera.

Frogs, toads and newts have kept me going, along with bat watching in the evening and baby deer in the field beside the house.

Sometimes its not about the photograph but the overall thrill and privilege of seeing truely, wild, wildlife! I had an couple of exciting opportunities with a very black coloured water vole but despite several follow up sessions didn't make another appearance for me.



I also had a couple of morning sessions with a young badger, it's never a good thing to see a youngster out in daylight so again my opportunities were brief but nevertheless what an experience of actually seeing one behaving naturally, grubbing for worms, grunting and sniffing in broad daylight

So it is mid September before I know it and at last the birds are coming back in the garden. The nuthatches are faster than ever, the blue tits more numerous and the chiffchaffs and blackcaps are nibbling the elderberry fruit.



Backdrop colours are changing daily and with some wet weather forecast leaves probably won't be hanging on for too long so I may be ducking in and out of the showers trying for a few more shots before I miss those beautiful autumnal colours.

The combination of warm dampish evenings and the attraction of the outdoor lights have been attracting a variety of visitors to come calling at the door.

Most nights we have a jumpy little group of various sized frogs and toads. Fat ones, thin ones, large ones, small ones. I don't mind what shape or size they are as I love to find them in the garden, especially lurking by the hostas like nightclub door minders.

By morning they have mostly disappeared, the toads retreat back to under the hedge and the frogs I have discovered go into an old tin baby bath amongst the potted fuchsias!



However sometimes the toads, who are a little more lethargic, linger long enough for a photo. They always look grumpy whereas I think Frogs often look smiley, probably because they know they can out jump me and toads know they are stuck for a while in front of the lens! Note the absence of frog photos in this posting but I will persevere!

Every year I have that same conflict of emotions when I watch the youngsters fledge, doesn't matter what breed of bird they are, robin, blackbird, woodpecker etc I feel invested in their upbringing, knowing I have done all I can to provide a safe place to be raised and laid on a varied, daily, buffet for the parents to feed from.



In this instance I have got out my virtual hankie to wave goodbye to the second family of swallows. This is one had a bumpy maiden flight but fortunately it was more of a dent in it's pride rather than a physical dent.

After a lot of encouragement from it's air borne siblings and parents, a visit from an inquisitive, passing, pheasant, who got rather harried in the process by the whooping worried parents, this little swallow revved up its engines and was last seen swooping over the roof top.



The drama didn't end there however as the weather changed for the worse the youngsters were led back by sensible parents to the shelter of the cart shed.




Another success story and as long as you know when to stop the story line, a happy ending!

It has obviously been a good year for poppies and seemingly a good year for Pied Wagtails with second broods well on the way in several known locations.

I haven't had too much chance to be creative in the use of these beautiful flowers an obliging young pied wagtail took up a preening post for half an hour and enabled me to snap a few shots, as it waggled its' tail, amidst the poppies!

I can't get enough of my local hares at the moment so apologies if my blog posts are a hare fest at the moment



I've gone back to a couple of favourite spots from last year it is interesting to see how the colour palette of the background has changed so much. This time last year the grass and hedgerows were all golden, crispy and dry compared to the lush bright greens, pastel blue tones that are the current mood board.



The hares seemed to have a lot more energy in the cooler summer weather and are certainly looking fit and well fed.


With the harvesting of fields imminent I probably have another week to try for some shots before the hares relocate to more peaceful surroundings. So I am literally making the hay whilst the sun shines and filling my boots with as many varied shots as I can.