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| Pika Bounding With A Bouquet |
We awoke to a sunny morning after a rainy night in Lee Vining, and I looked forward to using my new Z8 and 180-600mm to photograph the pikas along the Nunatak Nature Trail on the way home via Tioga Pass. We'd gone out via Sonora Pass so we could check out Twin Lakes near Bridgeport.
At the nature trail I walked through a patch of meadow still frosted after a cold night and found a likely spot at the base of the scree slope to await the arrival of a pika. Their alarm chirps had already greeted us, so we knew they were still there. It didn't take long for a couple of rock-rabbits to come down the hill and cast a wary glance my way.
In the not-too-distant background I watched a long-tailed weasel bound downhill over the talus and feared for the safety of one of the pikas when it scampered over that way to gather greens for the coming winter. The pika soon returned to stash the goods in its lair beneath one of the larger boulders, and I never saw the weasel again.
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| I've long been intrigued by the dramatic peaks you can see to the south as you drive through Bridgeport, and I figured Twin Lakes would get us closer to them. This is the view from the second lake. They actually look more imposing from Bridgeport because you can see more of the Sawtooth Ridge and Matterhorn Peak. |
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| I've been to the Nunatak Nature Trail several times, so this time I concentrated on trying to photograph the pikas as they moved over the landscape. |
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| Smiling Pika |
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| After stashing the goods in a midden below the rock, the pika returned to its lookout point and struck a wary pose before bounding back up the hill. |
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