Roadside Young Rock Squirrel

Young Rock Squirrel portrait – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1600, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

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. When I slowly drove closer to the squirrel I thought it would take off but it stood its ground. I was able to pull over onto the other side of the road and take portraits of the young squirrel.

I don’t get these Rock Squirrels in my viewfinder as often as I would like. More often than not I see them running up the slopes through my windshield and disappearing from my sight before I can get to them. For that reason I was thrilled to take photos of this youngster. I was even happier that my images were portraits because of the fine details I can see in my photos.

A bicyclist rode past me which scared the young Rock Squirrel into its burrow but before then I was able to take thirty-six  images of the squirrel. I waited around hoping that the squirrel would come back but after about five minutes I headed down the road.

I was disappointed that the squirrel didn’t come back above ground but leaving it when I did was the right choice. Just a few minutes later I stopped for my lifer photos of a young Yellow-breasted Chat. If I had waited longer to leave I would have missed out on seeing and photographing the chat. Some people might call that luck, chance or good timing. I personally like calling it a moment of sweet serendipity.

Life is good.

Mia

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