European Brown Hares are widespread across lowland agricultural and pastoral areas throughout mainland Britain, with particularly strong populations in East Anglia, Kent, and southern and central England. They are also found across much of lowland Scotland, parts of Wales and the Isle of Orkney, although they become scarce towards the far north of Scotland and are uncommon in Northern Ireland.

My particular quarry, however, was a Lincolnshire farm, where the open agricultural landscape provided an excellent setting for photographing these remarkable and increasingly iconic British mammals.

On the evening in question, I was alone on the farm — just me and the hares. My chosen viewpoint was an open area of scrub, with tall crops forming a backdrop. This was where the hares would emerge from and retreat into whenever they felt the need for cover.

I also placed a remote camera in an attempt to capture some additional video footage of the hares from a different perspective. Unfortunately, this proved to be a complete failure.

After what had been the driest summer on record, the heavens suddenly decided to open that evening, and the resulting downpour left the lens of the remote camera covered in water droplets, effectively putting an end to that particular experiment!

As can be seen in the image above, the hare was absolutely soaked by the rain. Despite being drenched, however, he and his fellow hares were still remarkably full of life, continuing to move around the fields and make the most of the evening.



All of the images featured in this blog were taken using a 600mm lens with a 1.4× extender, giving me the reach needed to photograph the hares while keeping a respectful distance and allowing them to behave naturally.

A good number of hares were present throughout the evening, and at one point I had five hares in front of me at the same time.

They were completely unfazed by the weather, happily feeding, running around and generally enjoying themselves, despite the persistent rain. It was a wonderful sight to watch, and being alone in the field with them made the experience even more special.

The pair in the image above seemed particularly “loved up”. They spent a considerable amount of time together, sitting close in the grass, appearing to nuzzle and “kiss”, before feeding alongside each other and occasionally chasing one another around. It was a lovely interaction to watch and certainly made for some memorable photographs.

Sometimes tracking the hares while they were running was certainly not easy.

They are incredibly fast and agile animals, capable of reaching speeds of up to 45 mph (72 km/h) in short bursts when escaping predators.



Trying to keep a fast-moving hare in the viewfinder while shooting at 600mm with a 1.4× extender certainly tested my tracking skills!

Whether it was a hare running at full speed, pausing to sit quietly in the grass, or simply feeding, there was no question that these remarkable animals made fantastic photographic subjects.

Their speed, character and unpredictable behaviour provided endless opportunities, and every encounter offered something different to capture.

As can be seen in the image above, the rain is clearly visible. During my five-hour session, the heavens opened on three separate occasions.



Although the rain undoubtedly added atmosphere to the images, with the droplets hanging in the air and covering the hares’ coats, it unfortunately ruined the video footage from my remote camera.

The water droplets left on the lens meant that what could have been some interesting additional footage was instead little more than a collection of blurred, rain-covered scenes.

This little guy sat right in front of me for quite some time, completely unconcerned by my presence, while he preened and washed his face.

Of the five hares I saw that evening, he was by far the smallest, which made him particularly endearing to watch. He seemed perfectly content to sit there grooming himself, providing me with a wonderful opportunity to capture some more intimate images.



Although the video footage from my remote camera was unfortunately ruined by the rain, I did manage to capture some video on my main camera. So, despite the weather conspiring against me, the evening wasn’t a complete loss from a video point of view!

Until the next time.......