June 22, 2012
Pika Stretching and Mountain Goats at Mt. Evans, Colorado

Yesterday was another great day on Mt. Evans. It started off slow with no Mountain Goats, and the Marmots weren't in great locations either. So, I decided to try my favorite spot for American Pika and found a cooperative subject. It must have been a slow morning for him too because he just sat on a rock for the longest time. Then unexpectedly, he stretched and yawned (above) before scurrying away. The afternoon also was a bit slow. The Mountain Goats were in a decent location but they weren't doing much. Then they moved into a bad location for photography. They were heading in the general direction of a good location for photography, so we waited, and waited, and waited. Shortly before sunset, they finally dropped down off the rocky flat where they had been and descended an extremely rocky, and steep, slope. This also made them backlit, and rim lighting on Mountain Goats can be spectacular. Add to that a nanny keeping watch over five kids, and it all added up to a great image (above).