MARCH HARE, NORFOLK... (My new poem about the coincidences of the keyring, the hares and the harrier in Blakeney, March 2025...)

 March Hare, Norfolk…

The key fob was purchased in Wells-next-the-Sea

Quite unexpectedly, which had been designed with a hare.

As another Blakeney sundown began to colour the Norfolk sky,

I walked across the marshes as usual, looking for wildlife,

Whereupon I was spoken to by a couple of women, the younger

Being keen to know what I had seen on my trek, whilst stating 

That her interest was in hares and that she had seen many during the week…

I had never seen a hare at Blakeney but I was determined to seek

One on the marshes before leaving Norfolk during the following day. Hesitating

The next morning, I was watchful, eager and felt fuelled with a new found hunger.

I spotted a Spoonbill away to my left, raptors were gliding and I heard the shrill strife

Of Pipits. Then to my shock, a brown mammal bounded through long grass nearby

And I identified it as a hare, which of my presence was likely unaware.

I watched it feed and then rush away with a flourish, wild and of course free…

Its eyes were lively, the ears long and distinctive, the fur bright;

It stopped, it looked my way, it appeared to frown, it stared, contrite

And then, alarmed perhaps by the constant steam of dogs passing by, 

It turned and raced off into the flourishing grasslands, its movements flashy and spry…

Before leaving Blakeney, a final walk on the causeway was taken and the marshes again searched 

But where I had seen the hare earlier, a lurking Marsh Harrier upon a gate was hunched and perched.

It soon dropped to the ground to make a kill in front of a previously unnoticed hare

And a stand-off occurred, a grudging acceptance, with stern eyes adopting an untrusting glare…

Pete Ray

26th March 2025…

The purchase of the keyring was followed by the comments made by a stranger on the marshes, then the following morning a hare appeared on the grasslands.

Later that morning another hare appeared, just metres away from where a Marsh Harrier had dropped to make a kill.

After arriving home in the Midlands, an article about hare coursing was spotted in that day’s Times newspaper.

It appears that the UK’s population of hares is falling due to the pursuit of coursing.

Once again, a ‘leisure’ pursuit is having a profound effect upon wildlife…

Dogs are well looked after, however, even in pushchairs…