Yellow-bellied Marmot Pups
March is when I usually see my first of the year Yellow-bellied Marmot awake and above ground here in northern Utah.
March is when I usually see my first of the year Yellow-bellied Marmot awake and above ground here in northern Utah.
The Yellow-bellied Marmot in these photos should be hibernating until mid-March. I spotted it wide awake yesterday on a rocky slope in northern Utah.
I'm concerned for our wild American Mink and have begun to wonder of the coronavirus could be passed to the other native mustelids here in Utah.
Today bison are being reintroduced to lands that they were extirpated from centuries ago and for bison lovers that is cause for celebration of this iconic mammal.
These five images of a Least Chipmunk grooming session are some of the last photos of chipmunks I took high in the Wasatch Mountains in 2020.
Yesterday I did take some bird photos and although I didn't find any avian rarities I did find a beautiful young Red Fox in a mountain meadow to photograph.
This spring I've been able to enjoy photographing a family of muskrats that live in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains and I expect I will also see them at least part way through the summer as well.
Yesterday morning I spent time focusing on photographing Great Blue Herons on the frozen marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
In mid August I was attempting to get close up photos of a Rock Squirrel that was actively feeding on serviceberries in the Wasatch Mountains and two things happened that ruined my chances for better images.
I had a blast photographing these baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and sharing them with my Mom. It was a peaceful, relaxing morning filled with birds, squirrels, lovely scenery and great company.
I'm sharing two Uinta Ground Squirrel photos taken two days ago a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains, one adult that was wet from the morning dew and one baby that was just outside of its burrow.
Photographing Yellow-bellied Marmot pups have delighted me this spring and since they don't stay little for long I have taken photos of them every time I have had the chance.
The two times I have observed and photographed these Yellow-bellied Marmot pups I have enjoyed watching them explore the area around their burrow, not only are they cute they are also entertaining.
It looked to me like this Yellow-bellied Marmot pup was doing CrossFit, a move my son who is active in CrossFit tells me is called a "bar muscle up". By then I was laughing so hard that it was hard to maintain focus on the marmot pup while it was hanging there on the fence.
The most fun I had yesterday wasn't photographing my feathered friends instead it was while I photographed a female Yellow-bellied Marmot and her five delightful pups.
I get excited to see and photograph my first Yellow-bellied Marmots of the years, sunning on rocks, scurrying along a hillside, nibbling on fresh spring grasses or calling out an alarm because a raptor is flying overhead.
My best photos of the day were of a Mountain Cottontail in the snow and that isn't saying much because of the annoying grass stem that intersects the rabbit's ears.
I am very fond of Yellow-bellied Marmots so when I spotted one clambering down some rocks into a crevice close to the road I became excited and as soon as I could I started taking photos of it.
In this photograph the trio of Red Fox kits were close together outside of the den and I liked how they appeared to be waiting for something.
Seeing this Pronghorn doe with her fawn three mornings ago brought joy to me and photographing the fawn while it nursed and ran around getting the feel of its long legs made me happy.
Finding a Yellow-bellied Marmot next to its burrow in northern Utah yesterday was a real treat for me especially since it stuck around for a bit.
Uinta Ground Squirrels are the most plentiful mammals I see during the summer months in the Centennial Valley.
Being in the right place at the right time can be awesome like last year being in the Targhee National Forest when a cow Moose and calf walked down a hill.
The White-tailed Prairie Dogs I saw and photographed last week in Wayne County, Utah seemed more active in the evening than mornings.
Yesterday when I saw this running Chukar image on my camera LCD in mid-stride and mid-air I had to chuckle because it looks something like a feathered Nerf football some one tossed across the snow.
It might have been slow on Antelope Island State Park yesterday as far as birds go but it was a Coyote kind of day with 9 as a total tally for just a few hours spent on the island.
There are many mammals to see at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, I haven't seen them all yet but I hope to one day. On this last trip I saw Moose, Elk, Skunks, Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, Foxes, White-tailed and Mule Deer, Yellow-bellied Marmots, and Pronghorns.