3.30 am! What sort of time is that?

I must be mad.  OK, it sounds fine initially, "First Light on Havergate", an early morning photography trip to the island.  Be at the jetty at 05.15 Lyndsey said.  Trouble is, it's the reverse engineering of the time to ascertain when to set the alarm clock that gets you.  03.30 in may case.  Far too early to be up and doing - even the cats thought I was mad!

I was slightly concerned, as the last time we did one of these trips, it was a bit misty & drizzly.  However, walking onto the quay today, we were greeted with this, and at that point it all became worthwhile (these are full res images - they may take a while to load, but they're worth it)

Even the trip downriver, with a glass-smooth surface disturbed only by the wake of our boat was amazing

The reflection theme continued from Main Hide, with the early morning light lovely to photograph by.  Redshank...

Dunlin...

Avocet...

and Ringed Plover all showed off

A Little Egret flew past

and outside the hide, a Roesel's Bush Cricket was advertising

A Barn Owl hunted across the meadow

But it's the Hares everyone wanted to get pictures of

There was quite a bit of chasing around - Mr was clearly keen on Mrs Hare, we may be seeing more leverets soon methinks!

As always, there's one who is simply rude to the photographers

Even the other hares are getting embarrassed

In case you're thinking you need lots of hardware to get nice hare shots, this shows how tolerant the hares can be with another visitor taking their pic - it was simply moving around nibbling the undergrowth

Eventually it was time to leave though, back to Orford for an ice cream and home again.