Summit County Uinta Ground SquirrelSummit County Uinta Ground Squirrel – Nikon D810, f9, 1/640, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light

I spent the morning in the high Uintas yesterday hoping to take more images of the Red-naped Sapsuckers and had hoped the chicks would be sticking their heads out of the nesting cavity. The chicks didn’t cooperate and my images of the adults weren’t as good as I had hoped they might be because of shadows on the sapsuckers, the trunk of the aspen being so bright and various other reasons that made me feel the images were lacking. Bird photography isn’t always easy though and I accept that.

But while I was waiting on the adult sapsuckers to come to the nesting cavity I amused myself by photographing the Uinta Ground Squirrels that came out to eat, sun, play and rest along side of the road. There were several adults and a few young squirrels that would get brave and come out into the open after other vehicles drove by stirring up the dust. I even saw a few of them that looked like they were boxing and even though I couldn’t get my lens on them to take pictures because my line of sight was obstructed I watched and laughed at how cute they were.

One of the Uinta Ground Squirrels stood up and simply looked around right on the shoulder of the road and I couldn’t resist photographing it. I don’t know if the squirrel was being a sentinel and keeping an eye out for danger or if it just felt like standing up to look around but I am glad it stood there long enough for me to take a nice series of images of it.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Uinta Ground Squirrel photos plus facts and information about this species.