{"id":126962,"date":"2024-04-01T04:42:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T10:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=126962"},"modified":"2026-03-06T18:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:42:11","slug":"yellow-bellied-marmot-on-a-cliff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/01\/yellow-bellied-marmot-on-a-cliff\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-bellied Marmot On A Cliff"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April Fool’s Day of 2022, I was up in far northern Utah where I spotted this adult male Yellow-bellied Marmot warming up in the morning sun on a cliff.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Yellow-bellied Marmot on a cliff \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 6400, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

He wasn’t the only marmot I found that morning, but he certainly caught my attention because of his lofty perch. Some of the lichens on the rocks matched the colors of his fur, and the bluebird sky seemed to accentuate those warm tones.<\/p>\n

Yellow-bellied Marmots<\/span><\/a> are large ground squirrels that I typically only see starting in March. Climate change does seem to be altering how early they appear above ground.<\/p>\n

I know from past years that by now their young should also be scrambling around on the rocks near their burrows. Due to cruddy weather and other things, I haven’t been able to see or photograph any marmots yet this year.<\/p>\n

This April Fool’s Day is not going to be sunny with bluebird skies here; the forecast calls for rain and clouds for most of the day. Which means I won’t be heading out into the field to look for marmots or birds.<\/p>\n

I enjoy revisiting my older photos taken during the current month to see what I discovered in the field. This practice helps me identify what to look for and also highlights what I may have missed despite knowing I should have found it.<\/p>\n

These Yellow-bellied Marmots, also known as “Whistle Pigs,” have always made me smile whenever and wherever I find them. Especially the babies in early spring. The babies are more active than the adults most of the time. They play, wrestle, cuddle, and nuzzle each other, and they are as cute as cute can be.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On April Fool’s Day of 2022, I was up in far northern Utah where I spotted this adult male Yellow-bellied Marmot warming up in the morning sun on a cliff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126959,"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":[1148,26,231],"tags":[4004,5131,4098,7017,1631,5071,751,4062,5854,2241,4984,4528,165,4029],"class_list":["post-126962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-yellow-bellied-marmots","tag-adult","tag-cliff","tag-desert","tag-foothills","tag-ground-squirrel","tag-ground-squirrels","tag-hillside","tag-male","tag-marmot","tag-marmota-flaviventris","tag-marmots","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-spring","tag-yellow-bellied-marmot"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-male-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8926.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-x1M","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101349,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-pup-in-a-crack-in-some-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":126962,"position":0},"title":"Yellow-bellied Marmot Pup In A Crack In Some Rocks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to find and photograph a Yellow-bellied Marmot pup peeking out of a crack in some lichen-covered rocks on the 1st of April in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-bellied Marmot pup in a crack in the rocks, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-pup-in-a-crack-mia-mcpherson-8888.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-pup-in-a-crack-mia-mcpherson-8888.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-bellied Marmot baby looking out from a crevice, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-baby-mia-mcpherson-7175.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-baby-mia-mcpherson-7175.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-baby-mia-mcpherson-7175.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-baby-mia-mcpherson-7175.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"March 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Around the middle of March while photographing nesting hawks I spotted a bit of movement and saw this Yellow-bellied Marmot resting on a cliff.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-bellied Marmot resting on a cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-high-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-high-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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