The pikas have arrived

It's warmed up nicely today. While the weather was good, I decided to go to the forest near the river. I was lucky there. Right at the edge of the forest I saw a pika running serenely along a tree trunk.

I saw this pika for the first time after winter. During the whole winter I never came across these birds. Apparently they went to warmer climes. Notya used to often see them in winter. But this winter was very snowy and harsh.

This winter, unfortunately, I did not see many of the birds that stayed with us for the winter. Apparently the birds have a good sense of what kind of winter we will have. And this winter was probably very difficult for them, so they went to those places where it was easier to overwinter.

The pika paid almost no attention to me. The tree trunk along which she was moving was quite thick and she successfully hid behind it from me. So I had to circle the tree all the time to photograph it.

However, when she saw that I was following her, she began to climb higher. Apparently she decided to protect herself from my presence in this way.

It’s good that there were no large branches in the tree trunk; the tree was almost bare to a considerable height. This allowed me to keep the pika in sight.

To my great regret, several cyclists appeared on the trail, talking loudly and honking. When the pika saw them, she immediately flapped her wings and flew off into the depths of the forest.