A magical encounter I’d been waiting years for

I have been lucky enough to see hares and wild rabbits a lot where I live in Suffolk – especially when I lived in Cake Street. I can’t tell you the hours I’ve spent just watching them – I still get a thrill from just watching them do their thing.

They were right in the fields outside my house and where I walked Ozzie every day. Whilst I let the rabbits enjoy my garden and treat it like a 5 star restaurant, meaning I could watch them whenever I wanted, the hares were a bit more elusive. Sometimes they would pass right by my dining room window and I’d be over joyed, and yet in all the years I lived there, I mostly only managed to get those distant shots of hares playing or scurrying away as they see me approach whilst out with my camera and Ozzie.

It was a long held desire for me to get some shots of a Cake Street hare I could be proud of. After years of trying, finally, I got there.

Good fortune came my way

Only days before I took these photos, I bought a painting of a hare that now hangs on my living room wall – it must have brought me luck! It was a magical 15 minute encounter, made all the more extraordinary by the fact I had Ozzie right with me but the hare still braved coming close and enjoying its breakfast right there in front of me.

I was so proud of Ozzie for being such a good boy and not pouncing on the hare too (although Ozzie’s frantic shaking as he sat beside me in front of the hare made taking the photos even more tricky!). All in all, it still goes down as one of the most memorable wildlife moments for me ever.