Pika

I took quite a few photos of two of these beautiful little Pikas - enough shots to keep me from feeling like going through them all to find a few more that are OK to post. This is one of the closer captures, when this little animal froze for a few moments. On 19 August 2014, I was lucky enough to have the chance to try and photograph a couple of these absolutely adorable little creatures : ) After a while, I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent shots at all. These tiny Pikas, also known as Rock Rabbits, hardly ever remain still and they are extremely fast! Imagine a mountain hillside covered in sharp, jagged rocks of all sizes and then try to picture how difficult it is to find in the viewfinder the single rock on which one of these Pikas might happen to sit for a second or two, lol! As time passed, I managed to take quite a few photos, though many needed to be deleted. Hope you don't get tired of seeing these little guys, but they are just so very cute. A couple of times, this Pika came bounding over the rocks near to where we were standing and just sat there, long enough to get a few very close shots. They are about 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length, so really are pretty small, especially when off in the distance. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika I found this excellent and amusing YouTube video, 3:30 minutes long, It is The American Pika in the BBC's Life of Mammals series. youtu.be/Sifk9uphr2Q The weather forecast was not good for that day, but we were so lucky that, apart from a few raindrops, the rain stayed away. The sun actually came out at two locations we stopped at for a short while. Our 18-hour day (from 6;00 a.m. till midnight!) started off with the thrill of seeing these Pikas and ended with a brief sighting of a black Wolf (could it be Skoki?) crossing the road ahead of us in the dark. It disappeared into the blackness, but shortly afterwards, we heard three (possibly four) separate Wolves howling way off in the distance. We just stood there, in total awe, listening to this amazing sound. The only wild Wolf I had ever seen before was when I was in Yellowstone National Park two years ago. Friends and I saw two Wolves feeding on a Bison carcass across a huge valley - so they were just distant specks, that became slightly larger specks when my camera was in full zoom, ha. In between these two highlights, we saw several Deer, a small group of Mountain Sheep on the road, a tiny Chipmunk, a few Cedar Waxwings, Columbian Ground Squirrels, a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk that sat on a branch out in the open for a long time, and two tiny Bats that flew very close over our heads when it was getting dark. We also saw an adult Grouse (Spruce Grouse?) with two young ones. Then, of course, there is the scenery! Blue sky to go with the splendour of the mountains would have been wonderful, but we had been having cold and gloomy weather for a while before this day out. Highway 40 and the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Trail both run through such spectacular scenery, so it was a real treat for me, especially as I won't drive to those areas myself.

This was the first time I had ever seen a Pika - unless I saw one 30+ years ago. This wonderful opportunity was thanks to Phil and Jan, who so kindly invited me to go with them yesterday to Kananaskis! This little animal, 6-9" long, was photographed near the start of the Rock Glacier Trail, along Highway 40. This short trail is on the low lying slopes of Mount Rae. We saw two of them, running all over the dark brown scree (loose rocks) that had a thin layer of fresh snow over it. Very definitely not the easiest of surfaces to walk on, but it was worth every cautious step. In this image, the Pika has its round ears flattened against its head, but they look even cuter when their little ears stick out : ) Shortly before stopping at the Rock Glacier Trail, we had spent time at Highwood House on Highway 40, to see the beautiful, tiny Hummingbirds that visit the Hummingbird feeders that the owners of Highwood House place around the building. Nice to see another friend, Rob and his wife, out there, too. Thanks, Phil and Jan, for this most enjoyable day! The window replacement people have arrived on my roof this morning! I thought I would still have another week, maybe! Have to get some things done - yikes! Oops, my mistake - just noticed a van parked almost out of my sight, that says Eavestroughing, etc., so I guess they are replacing the gutters, etc., not replacing windows yet. www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika

Another photo of one of two little Pikas (6-9" long) that I was lucky enough to see recently, when I had a great day in the mountains along the southern part of Highway 40, in Kananaskis. Friends, Phil and Jan, had invited me to go with them to go and see some Hummingbirds. Afterwards we continued along Highway 40 as far as Rock Glacier, where we saw two of these little "rock rabbits". There was a fresh covering of snow on some of the rocks, making climbing on the scree even more difficult, but it had to be done : ) It was also windy, as can be seen by the way the Pika's fur is being blown. This was the first time I had ever seen a Pika - unless I saw one 30+ years ago - so it was a real treat for me! www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika

This was the first time I had ever seen a Pika - unless I saw one 30+ years ago. This wonderful opportunity was thanks to Phil and Jan, who so kindly invited me to go with them on 27 June 2012 to Kananaskis! This little animal, 6-9" long, was photographed near the start of the Rock Glacier Trail, along Highway 40. This trail is just north of Highwood Pass, which lies at 2,227 metres (7,310'), and is on the low lying slopes of Mount Rae. We saw two of them, running all over the dark brown scree (loose rocks) that had a thin layer of fresh snow over it. Very definitely not the easiest of surfaces to walk on, but it was worth every cautious step. In this image, the Pika has its round ears flattened against its head, but they look even cuter when their little ears stick out : ) Shortly before stopping at the Rock Glacier Trail, we had spent time at Highwood House on Highway 40, to see the beautiful, tiny Hummingbirds that visit the Hummingbird feeders that the owners of Highwood House place around the building. Nice to see another friend, Rob and his wife, out there, too. Thanks, Phil and Jan, for this most enjoyable day! www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to have the chance to try and photograph a couple of these absolutely adorable little creatures : ) After a while, I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent shots at all. These tiny Pikas, also known as Rock Rabbits, hardly ever remain still and they are extremely fast! Imagine a mountain hillside covered in sharp, jagged rocks of all sizes and then try to picture how difficult it is to find in the viewfinder the single rock on which one of these Pikas might happen to sit for a second or two, lol! As time passed, I managed to take quite a lot of photos, though many will need to eventually be deleted. Came home with too many photos to go through when I got home (at midnight!) and this morning I have to get ready to go to my volunteer shift. So, basically, I grabbed a single shot to post today - hope you don't get tired of seeing these little guys, but they are just so very cute. This is a zoomed capture and at this point, the Pika was very close. They are about 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length, so really are pretty small. And, no, I didn't put one in my pocket to bring home with me - just kidding! Will have to wait till I get home later, to add more information about yesterday's 18-hour trip. For now, I'll just say that the day started and ended on a great note. This little Pika started our day off with such delight, but wait till you hear about the day's ending (no photos taken, though). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika

Two days ago, 19 August 2014, I was lucky enough to have the chance to try and photograph a couple of these absolutely adorable little creatures : ) After a while, I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent shots at all. These tiny Pikas, also known as Rock Rabbits, hardly ever remain still and they are extremely fast! Imagine a mountain hillside covered in sharp, jagged rocks of all sizes and then try to picture how difficult it is to find in the viewfinder the single rock on which one of these Pikas might happen to sit for a second or two, lol! The rock in my photo was a particularly nice one, standing out because it was bigger than the rocks immediately around it and it was covered in various Lichens. This little Pika made a quick, two-second stop on it several times, surveying the grasses and plants around it before dashing to gather a huge mouthful of "fresh greens" and then bounding up the rocky mountain slope to add its collection to a little cave among the rocks. They rely on existing spaces between the rocks for their homes - they don't dig a burrow, though they can dig to make their home bigger. Because the Pikas are a similar colour to the surrounding rocks, it is difficult to see them - unless you happen to catch sight of some movement or you see a mouthful of green moving at top speed over the rocks. As time passed, I managed to take quite a lot of photos, though many will need to eventually be deleted. Came home with too many photos to go through when I got home (at midnight!) and yesterday evening finally had a chance to take a better look. Hopefully today, I'll have a chance to add a bit more info about our great day out! Hope you don't get tired of seeing these little guys, but they are just so very cute. They are about 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length, so really are pretty small. And, no, I didn't put one in my pocket to bring home with me! "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 Link to a video that someone has posted on YouTube, to see and hear these little Rock Rabbits: youtu.be/W4U9IxhQSTc WHERE IS SUMMER??? Yesterday and today (21 August 2014) have been cold and wet! It is 11°C as I type (shortly before 1:00 p.m.), and it's raining. Looks like next week will be warmer. "Thermometers have been plummeting all week in Alberta, with below-seasonal temperatures making it feel more like fall than summer across the province ... The province can expect temperatures to remain below-seasonal for the remainder of the week, although slightly increasing on the weekend." From the WeatherNetwork. My youngest daughter's NEAR-ADVENTURE yesterday. Some of you may have seen on the News yesterday evening that a man climbed into a city bus that was idling while the driver took a break, and took it for a joy-ride! My daughter was the only person on the bus while it was idling, and the man told her to get off, before he drove off in the bus! I'm so thankful (so is she!) that she didn't have to stay on the bus till the Police managed to catch up with the bus and get the guy.

Five days ago, on 19 August 2014, I was lucky enough to have the chance to try and photograph a couple of these absolutely adorable little creatures : ) After a while, I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent shots at all. These tiny Pikas, also known as Rock Rabbits, hardly ever remain still and they are extremely fast! Imagine a mountain hillside covered in sharp, jagged rocks of all sizes and then try to picture how difficult it is to find in the viewfinder the single rock on which one of these Pikas might happen to sit for a second or two, lol! As time passed, I managed to take quite a few photos, though many will need to eventually be deleted. Hope you don't get tired of seeing these little guys, but they are just so very cute. This is a zoomed capture and at this point, the Pika was very close. A couple of times, it came bounding over the rocks near to where we were standing and just "froze" for more than two seconds, which is when I managed to get this shot. They are about 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length, so really are pretty small. And, no, I didn't put one in my pocket to bring home with me, lol! The weather forecast was not good for that day, but we were so lucky that, apart from a few raindrops, the rain stayed away. The sun actually came out at two locations we stopped at for a short while. Our 18-hour day (from 6;00 a.m. till midnight!) started off with the thrill of seeing these Pikas and ended with a brief sighting of a black Wolf (could it be Skoki?) crossing the road ahead of us in the dark. It disappeared into the blackness, but shortly afterwards, we heard three separate Wolves howling (possibly four). We just stood there, in total awe, listening to this amazing sound. The only wild Wolf I had ever seen before was when I was in Yellowstone National Park two years ago. Friends and I saw two Wolves feeding on a Bison carcass across a huge valley - so they were just distant specks, that became larger specks when my camera was in full zoom, ha. In between these two highlights, we saw several Deer, a small group of Mountain Sheep on the road, a tiny Chipmunk, a few Cedar Waxwings, Columbian Ground Squirrels, a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk that sat on a branch out in the open for a long time, and two tiny Bats that flew very close over our heads when it was getting dark. We also saw an adult and two young of some bird species (can't decide if they were Ptarmigan or Grouse) - have posted a really awful shot of one of the young ones today, hoping that someone might be able to recognize what it is. Searching online left me more confused than ever! Then, of course, there is the scenery! Blue sky to go with the splendour of the mountains would have been wonderful, but we've been having cold and gloomy weather recently. Highway 40 and the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Trail both run through such spectacular scenery, so it was a real treat for me, especially as I won't drive those areas myself. Thanks so much, Cathy & Terry! Thanks, too, Terry, for spending at least an hour (?) removing one of the car wheels and fixing whatever was wrong with it!

Three days ago, 19 August 2014, I was lucky enough to have the chance to try and photograph a couple of these absolutely adorable little creatures : ) After a while, I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent shots at all. These tiny Pikas, also known as Rock Rabbits, hardly ever remain still and they are extremely fast! Imagine a mountain hillside covered in sharp, jagged rocks of all sizes and then try to picture how difficult it is to find in the viewfinder the single rock on which one of these Pikas might happen to be sitting for a second or two, lol! By the time you find the rock, the Pika is long gone. This little Pika had just made another trip to its small cave among the rocks, with yet another huge mouthful of grasses and plants. They rely on existing spaces between the rocks for their homes - they don't dig a burrow, though they can dig to make their home bigger. Because the Pikas are a similar colour to many of the surrounding rocks, it is so difficult to see them - unless you happen to catch sight of some movement or you see a bunch of greenery moving at top speed over the rocky mountain side. As time passed, I managed to take quite a lot of photos, though many will need to eventually be deleted. Came home with too many photos to go through when I got home at midnight that night, but yesterday, I finally had a chance to take a better look. I still haven't added a bit more information about a few of the things we saw on our drive. Maybe today? Hope you don't get tired of seeing these little guys, but they are just so very cute. They are about 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length, so really are pretty small. And, no, I didn't put one in my pocket to bring home with me! "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 Link to a video that someone has posted on YouTube, to see and hear these little Rock Rabbits: youtu.be/W4U9IxhQSTc WHERE IS SUMMER??? Yesterday and today (22 August 2014) have been cold and wet! It is 10°C as I type (shortly before 11:00 a.m.), and it's raining lightly. Looks like next week will be warmer and drier. "Thermometers have been plummeting all week in Alberta, with below-seasonal temperatures making it feel more like fall than summer across the province ... The province can expect temperatures to remain below-seasonal for the remainder of the week, although slightly increasing on the weekend." From the WeatherNetwork. A quick note about my youngest daughter's NEAR-ADVENTURE two days ago! Some of you may have seen on the News in the evening that a man climbed into a city bus that was idling while the driver took a break, and took it for a joy-ride! My daughter was the only person on the bus while it was idling - she had just got off work - and the man told her to get off, before he drove off in the bus! I'm so thankful (so is she!) that she didn't have to stay on the bus till the Police managed to catch up with the bus and catch the guy.

11 September 2014 A day to remember the horrific events of 11 September 2001. So many mental images that will never, ever leave our minds and hearts. People from so many different countries, not just the US. So many stories of loss and heartbreak - and so many stories of bravery and heroic actions. Remembering .... all those who lost their lives on that fateful day: all those who lost loved ones and close friends or fellow workers; all those who rushed in to "do their job" or "to help others" in any way they could. Remembering .... all those who were severely injured on that fateful day and who have bravely suffered every day since then; all those Firemen, Emergency Medical people, Police - men and women, who have suffered and continue to suffer emotionally and physically, including illnesses caused by being exposed to harmful chemicals. The list goes on and on. Remembering ... and praying that we never see another day like 11 September 2001. On 19 August 2014, I was lucky enough to have the chance to try and photograph a couple of these absolutely adorable little creatures : ) After a while, I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent shots at all. These tiny Pikas, also known as Rock Rabbits, hardly ever remain still and they are extremely fast! Imagine a mountain hillside covered in sharp, jagged rocks of all sizes and then try to picture how difficult it is to find in the viewfinder the single rock on which one of these Pikas might happen to sit for a second or two, lol! As time passed, I managed to take quite a few photos, though many needed to be deleted. Hope you don't get tired of seeing these little guys, but they are just so very cute. A couple of times, this Pika came bounding over the rocks near to where we were standing and just sat there, long enough to get a few very close shots. They are about 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length, so really are pretty small. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika I've just found this excellent and amusing YouTube video, 3:30 minutes long, It is The American Pika in the BBC's Life of Mammals series. youtu.be/Sifk9uphr2Q The weather forecast was not good for that day, but we were so lucky that, apart from a few raindrops, the rain stayed away. The sun actually came out at two locations we stopped at for a short while. Our 18-hour day (from 6;00 a.m. till midnight!) started off with the thrill of seeing these Pikas and ended with a brief sighting of a black Wolf (could it be Skoki?) crossing the road ahead of us in the dark. It disappeared into the blackness, but shortly afterwards, we heard three (possibly four) separate Wolves howling way off in the distance. We just stood there, in total awe, listening to this amazing sound. The only wild Wolf I had ever seen before was when I was in Yellowstone National Park two years ago. Friends and I saw two Wolves feeding on a Bison carcass across a huge valley - so they were just distant specks, that became larger specks when my camera was in full zoom, ha. In between these two highlights, we saw several Deer, a small group of Mountain Sheep on the road, a tiny Chipmunk, a few Cedar Waxwings, Columbian Ground Squirrels, a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk that sat on a branch out in the open for a long time, and two tiny Bats that flew very close over our heads when it was getting dark. We also saw an adult Grouse (Spruce Grouse?) with two young ones. Then, of course, there is the scenery! Blue sky to go with the splendour of the mountains would have been wonderful, but we had been having cold and gloomy weather for a while before this day out. Highway 40 and the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Trail both run through such spectacular scenery, so it was a real treat for me, especially as I won't drive to those areas myself.