A hare roaming near Sydenham's Farm, Bisley

I returned to the farm shop near Bisley as I had to replenish the stock of cards they sell, some of which feature the farm itself. I chatted with Ashley and Keith, the two brothers who own the farm. Keith had greeted me with an update that he’d spotted a hare on his walk early this morning at 7-30am. His house is on the farm land just a few yards from the shop. He told me exactly which field he had seen it in and it turned out to be very close to where I'd walked to get my blip yesterday.

As I’d enjoyed myself so much on that walk, discovering the landscape around Sydenham’s Farm, I couldn’t resist going back there. In fact I’d hoped to photograph some yellowhammers, which I’d seen in and around the hedge next to the Wysis Way footpath leading down past Sydenham’s Farm. I stood beside the hedge and the big tree in the field for ages, but with the cold north-westerly wind now picking up I reasoned that the birds had moved to a more sheltered spot.

Eventually I gave up and followed the bird song I’d heard coming from the field below. I went up to the kissing gate, which is a very workmanlike defence against escaping sheep, and looked down over the field below the ridge. It is obviously an area of large scale landslip, which is a common feature of these parts where the strata of Fuller’s Earth slide down over the hard carboniferous limestone strata. They produce these sections of steps of pastures which are ideal for sheep to graze on.

As I waited listening for birds and the vivid sounds of the countryside, I eventually spotted a slight movement across the footpath below me and realised it was a hare. I managed to focus on it although it was a long way away, and then followed its movements as it ran between sections of cover afforded by scrubby bush, tufts of grass and steep banks. After four such rapid movements I saw it emerge beneath this old bush and after about a minute it made a dash up this slope towards me. This is the best shot I got. When it was leaping or jumping I didn’t manage to get it in sharp focus.

I laughed and felt very content. If Keith hadn’t told me about a hare which he saw only a couple of hundred yards from where I took this, I wouldn’t have thought of watching out for one. I shall return as I really want to watch hares more often.