Yellow-bellied Marmot Out And About In January

Yellow-bellied Marmot out and about in January – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I found and pointed out dozens of birds yesterday but the biggest surprise to me was spotting a Yellow-bellied Marmot out and about in the middle of January. Last year I spotted a Yellow-bellied Marmot within a mile of this one on February 7th and that was too early for marmots to be out of their burrows. The marmot that I found yesterday beat that one by being out of its burrow three weeks earlier.

The Yellow-bellied Marmot that I found yesterday appeared healthy. The marmot was doing what marmots do on chilly mornings and it was sunning itself on top of the lichen-covered rocks. That is typical behavior for marmots starting around the middle of March but not on a January morning where I saw a low of 10°F. Yellow-bellied Marmots should still be underground and hibernating at this time of the year.

I can only speculate as to the reasons why this marmot was above ground when I found it yesterday. I don’t have enough data to do anything else. The marmot may not have been able to gather enough food last year before going underground due to our drought or it may be ill but as I mentioned above it looked  and acted healthy. I strongly suspect that climate change has something to do with my early sightings of these marmots above the ground the past two years.

I shared a back of camera cell phone snap yesterday on Facebook and one of my friends and fellow photographers, Kevin Doxstater, replied with a link to an article about nature being out of sync. One of his marmot photos was featured in the article. Although the article was written in 2011 the content about nature being out of sync applies today.

Yesterday in the area where I found this Yellow-bellied Marmot I could see grasses that have already greened up. During my travels yesterday I also noticed tree buds that appear ready to pop open. A few days ago I found wild violets blooming in my front yard. I have heard Sandhills Cranes that shouldn’t be in northern Utah this early in the year. I am seeing signs of spring in northern Utah and all of that is a bit strange and early in January. I am sure there will come a time when I am not surprised to see signs of spring in the middle of winter. Today is not that time.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Yellow-bellied Marmot photos plus facts and information about this species.