Otospermophilus variegatus – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

My First Of Year Rock Squirrel

By Mia McPherson|March 16th, 2024|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, first of year, grass, grasses, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, Otospermophilus variegatus, park, Rock Squirrel, slumber, spring, squirrel, squirrels, urban|

I got out for about 30 minutes yesterday because the weather forecast was wrong, again. When I found my first-of-year Rock Squirrel, the sun was shining bright.

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Close Up Rock Squirrel At Home Yesterday

By Mia McPherson|October 3rd, 2023|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Salt Lake County, Utah, Wildlife|Tags: adult, close up, grass, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, Otospermophilus variegatus, park, portrait, Rock Squirrel, selfie, spring, squirrel, squirrels, urban, xeriscaping|

Yesterday, during a light rain, I looked out of my living room window, and to my surprise, I had a close-up view of a Rock Squirrel right next to the house.

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Urban Rock Squirrel With A Blade Of Grass

By Mia McPherson|May 12th, 2023|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Salt Lake County, Utah, Wildlife|Tags: adult, blade, close up, eating, grass, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, Otospermophilus variegatus, park, portrait, Rock Squirrel, spring, squirrel, squirrels, urban|

I have a backlog of spring images to go through, including photos of a Rock Squirrel and a blade of grass from the end of April.

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City Dwelling Rock Squirrel Surprise

By Mia McPherson|April 11th, 2023|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, mammals, Otospermophilus variegatus, pair, park, Rock Squirrel, spring, squirrel, squirrels, urban|

Two days ago when I was at a local park with my friend and yours, April Olson, I spotted a Rock Squirrel. Then I saw three more nearby and I had to take photos.

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Rock Squirrel Tree Topper

By Mia McPherson|April 2nd, 2023|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, foothills, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, mountains, Otospermophilus variegatus, Rock Squirrel, sky, sky island mountains, spring, squirrel, squirrels, top, Utah Juniper|

Almost three years ago, I photographed this Rock Squirrel perched in top of a juniper in the foothills of some sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah.

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Roadside Young Rock Squirrel

By Mia McPherson|August 28th, 2022|Categories: Morgan County, Rock Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildlife|Tags: canyon, close up, forest, forest edge, immature, mammals, mountains, Otospermophilus variegatus, portrait, Rock Squirrel, squirrel, squirrels, summer, young|

Almost two weeks ago I took a series of images of this young Rock Squirrel near its burrow next to a dusty dirt road high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Rock Squirrel Close Up In A Fragrant Sumac Shrub

By Mia McPherson|September 28th, 2020|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, branch, desert, eye, forest, Fragrant Sumac, grasping, mountains, Otospermophilus variegatus, Rhus aromatica, Rock Squirrel, shrub, sky island mountains, squirrel, squirrels, sumac, sumacs, summer|

The Rock Squirrel was grasping a sumac branch and the shrub was so close to me I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to focus on it.

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Rock Squirrel Resting On A Lichen Encrusted Boulder

By Mia McPherson|September 13th, 2020|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, boulder, canyon, lichen, lichen covered, lichen encrusted, lichens, mountains, Otospermophilus variegatus, resting, rock, Rock Squirrel, squirrel, squirrels|

I spent the morning up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday where one of the furry creatures I saw and photographed was a Rock Squirrel on a lichen encrusted boulder.

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West Desert Rock Squirrel On Top Of A Juniper

By Mia McPherson|November 9th, 2019|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildlife|Tags: blue sky, inversion, juniper, mountains, Otospermophilus variegatus, Rock Squirrel, squirrel, squirrels, tree|

A soft blue sky, a juniper and a Rock Squirrel made me pretty happy two days ago because I don't have these squirrels in my viewfinder nearly as often as I'd like to.

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Peek-a-boo Rock Squirrel Close Up In A Serviceberry Bush

By Mia McPherson|August 27th, 2019|Categories: Rock Squirrels, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, close up, mammals, Otospermophilus variegatus, peek-a-boo, Rock Squirrel, serviceberries, serviceberry, squirrel, squirrels, Utah Serviceberry|

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.

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Revisiting The Mercur Canyon Rock Squirrel

By Mia McPherson|March 8th, 2017|Categories: Mercur Canyon, Rock Squirrels, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, alert, boulder, lichen, Otospermophilus variegatus, Rock Squirrel, rocks, rocky slope, squirrel, squirrels, sunning|

While up in Mercur Canyon I caught a flash of browns and grays on top of a rock and realized I was seeing the Rock Squirrel I photographed on the same slope last month.

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Mercur Canyon Rock Squirrel

By Mia McPherson|February 14th, 2017|Categories: Mercur Canyon, Rock Squirrels, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: canyon, Ephedra, ground squirrels, Mormon Tea, Oquirrh Mountains, Otospermophilus variegatus, Rock Squirrel, rocks, squirrels, west desert canyons|

I didn't have much luck at all with birds yesterday in the west desert canyons but I did spot and photograph a Rock Squirrel in Mercur Canyon.

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