{"id":112372,"date":"2023-04-11T03:53:38","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T09:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=112372"},"modified":"2023-04-11T03:53:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T09:53:57","slug":"city-dwelling-rock-squirrel-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/11\/city-dwelling-rock-squirrel-surprise\/","title":{"rendered":"City Dwelling Rock Squirrel Surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"RockRock Squirrel in a urban park in Salt Lake County \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In all the years I have photographed birds and animals at that park I had never seen Rock Squirrels<\/span><\/a> there. This species a species I usually see at higher elevations in the mountains. I didn’t expect to see them so close to home. They surprised me.<\/p>\n

I was too close to get all of their bodies and their long tails in my viewfinder so I focused on taking primarily portraits. The squirrels were munching away on the fresh spring grasses that have started to grow since the last snowstorm blew through.<\/p>\n

\"PairPair of Rock Squirrels in Salt Lake County \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m hoping that I can photograph the Rock Squirrels again soon and that I can get down to ground level with them.<\/p>\n

These fluffy-tailed, large ground squirrels fascinate me and I enjoy seeing them whenever and wherever I can. If I can do that close to home, I am certainly not going to complain!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Rock Squirrel photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5661,709,26],"tags":[4004,1631,5071,1632,5662,2139,10698,5663,165,3826,3827,8018],"class_list":["post-112372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rock-squirrels","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-ground-squirrel","tag-ground-squirrels","tag-mammals","tag-otospermophilus-variegatus","tag-pair","tag-park","tag-rock-squirrel","tag-spring","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrels","tag-urban"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-salt-lake-county-mia-mcpherson-3454.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tes","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":113395,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/12\/urban-rock-squirrel-with-a-blade-of-grass\/","url_meta":{"origin":112372,"position":0},"title":"Urban Rock Squirrel With A Blade Of Grass","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Rock Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Rock Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/rock-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rock Squirrel and a blade of spring grass, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rock-squirrel-blade-of-grass-mia-mcpherson-5756.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rock-squirrel-blade-of-grass-mia-mcpherson-5756.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rock-squirrel-blade-of-grass-mia-mcpherson-5756.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rock-squirrel-blade-of-grass-mia-mcpherson-5756.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":116706,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/03\/close-up-rock-squirrel-at-home-yesterday\/","url_meta":{"origin":112372,"position":1},"title":"Close Up Rock Squirrel At Home Yesterday","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Rock Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Rock Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/rock-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rock Squirrel and Mia selfie, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/rock-squirrel-selfie-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/rock-squirrel-selfie-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/rock-squirrel-selfie-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/rock-squirrel-selfie-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":124365,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/16\/my-first-of-year-rock-squirrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":112372,"position":2},"title":"My First Of Year Rock Squirrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Rock Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Rock Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/rock-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First of year Rock Squirrel, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/rock-squirrel-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-9587.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/rock-squirrel-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-9587.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/rock-squirrel-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-9587.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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