Hardy harrier

The Hardy Monument from the A35 above Askerswell

The Hardy Monument in West Dorset is often wrongly assumed to have been erected in honour of local author Thomas Hardy, but is in fact a tribute to Nelson's contemporary, Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy. Heading home along the Dorset coast from Charmouth this evening, an impressive cloud sea was forming in the Bride Valley, and from the ridge above Askwerswell I could see the Monument rising through it distantly to the east. There was just enough light left to make a detour via there on the way home for some photos worthwhile.

On arriving I realised that I only had one lens with me - the 400mm - of limited use for landscapes, but it would have to do. I hadn't given much thought to birds at this point but as soon as I got out of the car a Short-eared Owl coasted past. Heading up to the Monument for a better all round view, a ringtail Hen Harrier flushed from the heather, and on the way back down, as the Owl perched up in a tree, a second bird joined it. The Harrier stubbornly refused to adopt a photogenic pose as it flew away from me in the half-light, but the Owls were a bit more obliging.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Hen Harrier

Sunset from the Hardy Monument