Road through Kananaskis
Lichen on the rocks at Rock Glacier
A drive through Kananaskis
The beauty of erosion
The start of a great day
Beginning to look like fall
On the way down
Scenery along Highway 40, Kananaskis
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel in a Pika's cave
Painted Lady
Waiting for the herd to descend
Wide angle on the Bighorn Sheep ridge
Keeping watch over the herd
Small and fast .... and adorable
The beauty of our mountains
Clouds over the mountains
It's Pika time - again
Pika pose
Red beauty on a scree slope
Mushroom at Rock Glacier
Love those little Pika feet
Hungry little Chipmunk
A brief close encounter
Growing in the cracks
3 Nature's artwork
It's that little guy (gal) again
Mid-squeak!
Hiding between the rocks
Light-coloured Pika
Push!
Lichen at Rock Glacier
Between a rock and a hard place
Lichens and moss at Rock Glacier
A brief moment of rest
A brief moment's rest
A gathering of female Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn Sheep - she's a beauty
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
The cutest little furball
Tiny Hummingbird at Highwood House
Unexpected closeness
Above the tree line
Pika / Ochonta princeps
Pika, up close
Love a Pika's ears
Love those big ears and big feet
Such a cute little thing
Gathering food for the winter
A patchwork of lichens
A moment of closeness
Time for another Pika shot
Stocking up on food for the winter
Pika storing food for the winter in its cave
Just a small mouthful
Living in a rocky world
A moment to ponder
A change from Marmots
Pika, busily feeding
Oh, so cute
A quick, two-second rest
What could be cuter?
Snow slump
Footprints in the snow
Last day before the winter gates closed
This is where I was yesterday
Weird and wonderful
Arethusa Cirque, Kananaskis
Snow, snow, and more snow
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195 visits
Pika, on a windy day
These little Pikas/Rock Rabbits are only 6-9 inches long and are usually seen far away, running back and forth over the massive scree (talus) mountain slope that they call home. Very occasionally, one happens to come a bit closer, usually for just a quick moment. Love their little front paws and their round ears. This one's fur was being blown all over the place, as it was so windy.
"The American Pika is a generalist herbivore. It eats a large variety of green plants, including different kinds of grasses, sedges, thistles and fireweed. Although pikas can meet their water demands from the vegetation they eat, they do drink water if it is available in their environment. Pikas have two different ways of foraging: they directly consume food (feeding) or they cache food in haypiles to use for a food source in the winter (haying). The pika feeds throughout the year while haying is limited to the summer months. Since they do not hibernate, pikas have greater energy demands than other montane mammals. In addition, they also make 13 trips per hour to collect vegetation when haying, up to a little over 100 trips per day." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pika
A couple of short YouTube videos in case anyone wants to hear and see these absolutely cute creatures:
youtu.be/US_Hy_eGPtg
youtu.be/OQ2IgcjVIfc
On 18 August 2017, I made a very last-minute decision (just after midnight) to return to this location. Last year (2016), I had finally made myself do this long drive (293 km), after longing for years to be able to get there on my own. I was determined to go again this summer, and this was the day.
I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and took the scenic back road to Highway 40. Unfortunately, we are still getting the smoke from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires, so distant shots are not the best. However, the landscape on this whole drive is spectacular and I could never tire of it. I would imagine most people drive the whole loop along Highway 40, but my destination was a place where Pikas live, keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them would show up. I was in luck and saw two of them, and managed to get a few photos, though I have taken better photos on previous visits.
While I was standing near the base of this huge talus slope, I started hearing the sound of rocks falling! The first thing that flashed through my mind was that I was not standing in the best place if a rock slide happened, and then I remembered seeing someone's photo of a bear with her two cubs walking across the rocks just above where I was standing. Looking around, I could see nothing - and then, suddenly, I could just make out the tiny silhouette of a Bighorn Sheep on the very top of the ridge, and then several others came along. In a short time, one of them walked to the end of the ridge and stood there, on guard the whole time it took for the rest of the herd to slowly make its way down the rocky mountain side. They ended up passing me on a closer ridge and finally reached the road. What a journey they made in order to get salt off the road surface! I watched them for maybe an hour, while they hung around just below me, refusing to leave the road when cars came along. Nothing would make them budge! It was just as interesting to watch the reaction of the drivers - most slowed right down or stopped, and most people stayed in their vehicles.
After calling in again at Highwood House to pick up a much-needed coffee, I carried on with the drive home via various backroads, including the Priddis area. My early morning drive had given me just two birds - a Northern Harrier and some other Hawk. The return drive gave me maybe four Hawks, none of which stayed long enough for a photo. A strange, empty feeling, as two days earlier, friends and I had seen dozens of Hawks during a day's drive.
"The American Pika is a generalist herbivore. It eats a large variety of green plants, including different kinds of grasses, sedges, thistles and fireweed. Although pikas can meet their water demands from the vegetation they eat, they do drink water if it is available in their environment. Pikas have two different ways of foraging: they directly consume food (feeding) or they cache food in haypiles to use for a food source in the winter (haying). The pika feeds throughout the year while haying is limited to the summer months. Since they do not hibernate, pikas have greater energy demands than other montane mammals. In addition, they also make 13 trips per hour to collect vegetation when haying, up to a little over 100 trips per day." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pika
A couple of short YouTube videos in case anyone wants to hear and see these absolutely cute creatures:
youtu.be/US_Hy_eGPtg
youtu.be/OQ2IgcjVIfc
On 18 August 2017, I made a very last-minute decision (just after midnight) to return to this location. Last year (2016), I had finally made myself do this long drive (293 km), after longing for years to be able to get there on my own. I was determined to go again this summer, and this was the day.
I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and took the scenic back road to Highway 40. Unfortunately, we are still getting the smoke from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires, so distant shots are not the best. However, the landscape on this whole drive is spectacular and I could never tire of it. I would imagine most people drive the whole loop along Highway 40, but my destination was a place where Pikas live, keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them would show up. I was in luck and saw two of them, and managed to get a few photos, though I have taken better photos on previous visits.
While I was standing near the base of this huge talus slope, I started hearing the sound of rocks falling! The first thing that flashed through my mind was that I was not standing in the best place if a rock slide happened, and then I remembered seeing someone's photo of a bear with her two cubs walking across the rocks just above where I was standing. Looking around, I could see nothing - and then, suddenly, I could just make out the tiny silhouette of a Bighorn Sheep on the very top of the ridge, and then several others came along. In a short time, one of them walked to the end of the ridge and stood there, on guard the whole time it took for the rest of the herd to slowly make its way down the rocky mountain side. They ended up passing me on a closer ridge and finally reached the road. What a journey they made in order to get salt off the road surface! I watched them for maybe an hour, while they hung around just below me, refusing to leave the road when cars came along. Nothing would make them budge! It was just as interesting to watch the reaction of the drivers - most slowed right down or stopped, and most people stayed in their vehicles.
After calling in again at Highwood House to pick up a much-needed coffee, I carried on with the drive home via various backroads, including the Priddis area. My early morning drive had given me just two birds - a Northern Harrier and some other Hawk. The return drive gave me maybe four Hawks, none of which stayed long enough for a photo. A strange, empty feeling, as two days earlier, friends and I had seen dozens of Hawks during a day's drive.
ROL/Photo, autofantasia have particularly liked this photo
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