Hanging out With the Pikas

My last full day in Colorado was spent high up in the Rockies. I left my rented room well before dawn and headed up to reach the top of the pass just after sunrise. I parked the car and grabbed my hat, gloves, some water and my camera gear. Hiking upward above 12,000 feet isn't easy for a close to sea level guy like me. I would climb twenty or thirty steps and then stop to catch my breath. I repeated this process over and over until I was high up a talus slope where the Pika live. American Pika are typically found in western North America from British Columbia in Canada to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, California and New Mexico. They are usually found at higher elevations from 8,000 to 14,000 feet, though there are two lower elevation populations; one along the Columbia River and one in North Eastern California. Their preferred habitat is in rock slides and talus rock covered slopes between the timberline and down into subalpine forest. Pikas are related to rabbits hence the nickname of "rock rabbits" is sometimes used. They definitely have the cuteness factor going for them. Pikas have a small, round body, peppery brown fur, large round ears. They are typically six to eight inches long and weigh in at about about six ounces. One of the coolest things about them is, like Polar Bears, they have black skin underneath their coats. The most amazing thing about them is that they don't hibernate. Instead, during the short window of summer, they gather a wide variety of flowers, grasses and plants and dry them in little hay stacks. These are then stored in their dens to eat during the long winter. At present many populations of Pika are in decline. It is believed to be linked to global warming. Pika are now missing at many historical sites that they used to live in. Whether this is due to drought or global warming, this has yet to be determined. Status as an endangered species has been applied for, but it was found that there was a lack of research to attain that status and research is ongoing. I had a fantastic time photographing them. It was great just sitting there in the rocks watching them running to and fro building up their hay piles. They would periodically stop to take a break and sun themselves. I photographed them until the light started getting too harsh. As I stood up to go I spotted a weasel above me that was also in search of Pikas. I don't think it wanted to be their friend! Alarm calls were sounding all over the Pika colony. I moved cross slope trying to get ahead of it, but I never sighted the weasel again. By then I was pretty tired, and I lay down on the tundra looking up at the blue sky and a few clouds floating by. Before long I nodded off to sleep. What a great nap I had! The Pikas were one of the highlights of my trip, and I look forward to photographing them in the future. God's love and blessings to all of you, Chris All images were created with a Canon 7DmkII and a Tamron 150-600m lens on a Me foto tripod. Exposures varied and it still amazes me that the Tamron lens that was damaged when it fell out of my backpack onto the concrete was able to produce such fantastic images.

Moose, Marmots, Pika and an Elk

This could also be called wildlife photography with a broken lens. As I'm slowly wading through the images from my trip to Colorado I'm very impressed with how well my images turned out with a cracked front lens element on my 150-600mm Tamron lens. The seventh of September was a banner day for photography. We drove up early in the morning into Rocky Mountain National Park and up Fall River Road. We looking to see if we could find any Shiras Moose. Shiras Moose are the smallest subspecies of moose being about six feet high at the shoulder and weighing in at around a thousand pounds. They may be the smallest moose but they aren't something you want to mess with! Records show a transient moose population that used to wander into the state from Wyoming as far back as the 1850s but there wasn't really a stable population until they introduced twenty four Shiras Moose into North Park near Walden in 1978. More introductions followed and there is now a population of over two thousand moose in the state. At the top of the road we spotted one moose way far away down in a valley. When we got to the top we went by Rock Cut looking for some Pikas but both they and the sun weren't out yet. My brother Eric suggested we try down in the Kawuneche Valley down past Poudre Lake. We didn't spot anything on the way down but when we turned the corner at Poudre Lake we spotted a really nice bull moose feeding out in the lake. He was spectacular with the velvet on his rack dripping off. The light was fairly dim but we photographed him a bit and then headed down into the valley where we spotted a cow moose and two calves. What a morning for moose! We returned back up Trail Ridge Road and I sat down on the edge of the tundra and had a marvelous time photographing Pikas. They are one of my favorite animals to photograph. They are little bundles of energy running back and forth building up their hay supply for the winter. I sat there photographing them for close to an hour.Later as we were leaving we photographed the sentry. A Yellow Bellied Marmot that is always on the same rock almost every time I would go by.When we got into Estss Park there was a nice bull elk by the Catholic Church. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open and his head up he was so tired from rounding up his cows. Thank you Lord for such a beautiful day, chris

Rocky Mountain Elk

One of the defining species of Rocky Mountain National Park is the Rocky Mountain Elk. Which is quite ironic because even though they are native to the park the local herd was almost wiped out by market hunters providing meat to the growing population of Denver, Colorado during the hey day of mining. In 1913-1914 through the help of the Estes Valley Improvement Association and the the United States Forest Service forty-nine elk were captured in Yellowstone and shipped to Colorado to rebuild the elk herd of the Estes Valley and the park. It was obviously a success for now the park has an overabundance of elk for the resources the park has to offer. Early in the morning on Sept. 5th we went up into the park to photograph elk. Right after we entered the park we saw a nice bull on the side of the road. What caught my eye though was this young elk calf standing nearby in beautiful light. Further up on Trail Ridge Road we spotted a bull trying to round up his cows in thick timber He was exhausted! He was right next to where "The Drift"a popular trail from the now long gone Hidden Valley Ski area used to cross the road. That was a challenging trail to ski in my youth. Later in the afternoon we went back to Estes Park and I took a nice hike along the shores of Lake Estes where I spotted this elk alternately bugling and then thrashing the willows next to the golf course and the Big Thompson River. It was a nice day seeing the elk. God bless, chris All images were created with my Canon 7D mkII and my damaged Tamron 150-600mm lens. Exposures varied.

By the Old Garden Gate

I set up my photoblind this morning by the old garden gate in the backyard. With a feeder nearby I didn't have very long to wait before one of the bravest of the Western Gray Squirrels came to check things out. It snacked a little while but took off when I made too much noise with my foot on the flagstone. It went up into the trees chattering its complaints to all within earshot. I hope that you are having a great week. God's love and blessings to all, chris All three images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.0 and F 6.3, at 1/250th and 1/200th of a sec. The camera was supported on a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with a heavy duty Bogen Ballhead. #TeamCanon

Portrait of a Grey Squirrel

It's always interesting to see who has possession of the feeders when I come out into the backyard in the morning. In order to check I have to sneak out there. If the squirrels catch sight of me they run off and jump up into the trees. I check first by opening the door and very slowly creeping across the deck hoping it doesn't make any loud creaking noises. Next I have to duck really low behind the photoblind and travel over the flagstone and very slowly settle into the blind. This morning the Western Gray Squirrels were gathered around the feeder with noother species of squirrel in sight. God's blessings upon your day, chris Canon 7D mkII AV mode, ISO 400, F 8.0 at 1/20th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Rockin' It

Yesterday morning I set up a really nice lichen covered rock next to the bird feeder in the backyard. Before I went out of the house I looked for the "Blasted Cat" but I couldn't find her. After sitting in the photoblind for a bit she showed up wanting to be petted. I picked her up and put her into my lap and she settled in purring contentedly. After about five minutes the Band-tailed Pigeons started coming in. I found that it's really hard to photograph birds with a cat in your lap that wants to get off and go eat the pigeons! I created some pretty nice images before she escaped my grasp and attempted to try and leap up onto the feeder and grab the pigeons. Thankfully she failed. God's blessings upon your week, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy duty ballhead. Camera settings used were Manual mode,ISO 400, F 5.6 at 1/2,000th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Stand and Wait

This morning was perfect for bird photography. It was nice and foggy. During the night the fog came rolling in from the coast and covered our house in a nice blanket of fog. Fog is really nice for hummingbird photography because their gorget doesn't overexpose so easily as it does in bright light. I set myself up as close as I possibly could to the hummingbirds favorite perch. I raised my tripod up as far as I possibly could to get closer to the level of the perch. Then I stood motionless with my eye to the viewfinder of the camera. I waited and waited. But not for very long at all. The hummingbirds were really active trying to keep themselves warm. They were buzzing all around me and fighting for possession of the perch. They were landing one after the other on the perch. One male Anna's landed there and I gave my best raspy imitation call of a male Anna's. He immediately perked up and flashed his gorget to the imaginary rival. I got some great images but this one was my favorite. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris Image created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at 600mm. A Canon 550 EX was used for fill flash. It was set to -2. The camera was supported on a Manfortto 190 XPROB tripod.#TeamCanon

Stroll Along the Lake

Yesterday morning I went for a walk along the dam at Lake Ada Rose near where I live in northern California. Though I will say it was hardly a walk. It was more of a saunter or maybe even a stroll because I kept finding things to photograph. I brought along my tripod and trusty Canon 7D with a Tamron 150-600mm lens. I mounted a 36mm extension tube between the camera and the telephoto lens to allow me to close focus on lizards dragonflies and flowers etc. Without the extension tube the lens will only focus to a little under nine feet. With the extension tube I could focus on dragonflies just a little over three feet away! Here are the results of my morning stroll. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris

Down Low

I'm still wading through editing my images from last week. It's hard to do when there is so much to photograph in the spring time. Here is a close up portrait of a California Ground Squirrel. Those of you that have been following this photoblog for a long time you know I'm a sucker for photographing small mammals. I spotted this squirrel last week near the trail head to Seal Point at McKerricher State Park. It froze when I first spotted it. Maybe the squirrel thought if I don't move he won't see me. I walked as close as I could to it before I could sense it was ready to bolt into a nearby burrow. Then I slowly lowered my self to a prone position on the ground and I inched forward a little more. Small subjects (children included) lend themselves to be photographed on their level. It creates more of an intimate sense when you are down low at their height. For ground squirrels that means being right at ground level. I really like how the image worked out. God's love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at 600mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 200 (it was close to midday) F 8.0 at 1/320th of a sec. Fill flash of minus 2-1/3 with a Canon 550 EX was used.

Orange Variant

Yesterday afternoon I drove out into the Little Lake Valley to restock my bird feeders. When I arrived the rains cleared for a bit and I thought to myself, "Hmnn... the lighting is pretty good right now. Maybe I should do some photography". So I did. After I settled into the photoblind the birds started coming in. There were mostly House Finches and occasionally a White Breasted Nuthatch would drop in as well. What caught my attention the most were the flashes of orange from an orange variant House Finch. I took as many images of it as I could and these were my two favorite. God's tender love and blessings to all, chris Both images were created with a Canon 7D with a Tamron 150-600mm lens. AV mode, ISO 400, F 8.0 . The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.

Weathered Wood

It felt great to be photographing at the ranch last week. From the blind I could hear the small waterfalls on the creek below me. The call of a Mallard duck as it flew overhead and the muffled sounds of the horses hooves in the pasture behind the blind. I have a piece of bleached weathered wood that I have had for years. It has some really unique grain patterns in the wood. I can't image what the tree it came from must have looked like. I set up the wood next to the feeder and I had a parade of birds coming by to use the feeder. The majority of them were House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches. All were photographed with my Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. May you have a blessed week, chris