Glass half full

At the beginning of May, fate transpired to bring the wild a little closer to our door. Yes, it's those lovely, long-eared lagomorphs once more!

The fields at the front and the back of our home extend northwards into the rough pasture of a little valley of the burn which once fed a mill. Across the other side of this valley are yet more fields. These are the places where we often see Brown Hares, at least if the hares are not actively seeking to be unseen! Of late, the field behind us was ploughed, rolled and sown, making it less than ideal hare habitat (that is, until the crop comes through), and all the other fields have been liberally 'enriched' with slurry. So, dear reader, you may be wondering, where does a discerning hare go to dine, rather than frequent the slim pickings of a ploughed field or the piquant plate of a shoddy sward?

The three building plots adjacent to us are still a blank canvas as regards bricks and mortar, which means that they remain what, I am guessing here, they have been for centuries, which is unimproved grassland. And it is to this fragrant meadow that the hares have come, to sample some good old-fashioned nourishing and tasty food. As luck would have it, the property boundary between the building plots and our garden is essentially the line in the grass that I have mowed, with no fences or walls to worry about. And, as we're not agin the occasional wildflower popping up wherever it chooses, a hopeful hare high on heady herbage could easily stray from grassland to garden.

The following photos and footage were all taken through various windows, whilst this particular Brown Hare inspected the 'lawn' and the designated wildflower patch, removing daisies at will and flagrantly ignoring the No Mow May campaign.

We knew when we moved here that houses would be built around us, and we've been content these past ten months to simply enjoy what we have whilst we have it. But it's going to be quite a wrench if we lose these occasional visits from the local hare population as well as a westward view.