{"id":47162,"date":"2017-06-06T04:28:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-06T10:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47162"},"modified":"2026-03-07T09:29:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:29:40","slug":"uinta-ground-squirrel-near-east-canyon-creek-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/06\/uinta-ground-squirrel-near-east-canyon-creek-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Uinta Ground Squirrel Near East Canyon Creek In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UintaUinta Ground Squirrel near East Canyon Creek – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 320, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I am primarily a bird photographer I simply can not resist photographing the other creatures I find out in the wild.<\/p>\n

The same day I photographed the Green-tailed Towhee<\/span><\/a> and the Yellow Warbler<\/span><\/a> high up in the Wasatch Mountains I found a few Uinta Ground Squirrels there too.<\/p>\n

Uinta Ground Squirrels only spend a few months above ground and the rest of the time they hibernate or estivate underground so my window of opportunity to photograph this species is limited.<\/p>\n

There were three Uinta Ground Squirrels<\/span><\/a> in the riparian zone along\u00a0East Canyon Creek and I felt that I had to take photos of them in the bright, clear light, they were so cute.<\/p>\n

The adult ground squirrel had the best light on it but it always stayed partially hidden in the lush grasses.<\/p>\n

All of the squirrels were so close that I had trouble fitting them into my view finder so I decided to leave my teleconverter on and take close up photos of the adult. I’m glad I did.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

There were three Uinta Ground Squirrels in the riparian zone along East Canyon Creek and I felt that I had to take photos of them in the bright, clear light, they were so cute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[4594,1630,26,773,99],"tags":[4004,5893,4109,1631,5071,5906,165,3826,3827,2619,2620],"class_list":["post-47162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morgan-county","category-uinta-ground-squirrel","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-wildlife","tag-adult","tag-east-canyon-creek","tag-grasses","tag-ground-squirrel","tag-ground-squirrels","tag-riparian-zone","tag-spring","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrels","tag-uinta-ground-squirrel-2","tag-urocitellus-armatus"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-grasses-mia-mcpherson-2449.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cgG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57695,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/08\/photographing-uinta-ground-squirrels-in-a-wasatch-mountain-canyon\/","url_meta":{"origin":47162,"position":0},"title":"Photographing Uinta Ground Squirrels In A Wasatch Mountain Canyon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago while up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains I was able to finally realize a personal goal while photographing Uinta Ground Squirrels.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Uinta Ground Squirrel munching on spring grasses, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-grass-mia-mcpherson-2619.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-grass-mia-mcpherson-2619.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-grass-mia-mcpherson-2619.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-grass-mia-mcpherson-2619.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69826,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/12\/uinta-ground-squirrels-with-blue-green-and-gold-backgrounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":47162,"position":1},"title":"Uinta Ground Squirrels With Blue, Green And Gold Backgrounds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Early this month I was able to create this golden background by having leafless willows that line the creek below the road behind the Uinta Ground Squirrel when I photographed it.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Uinta Ground Squirrel with a golden background, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-golden-background-mia-mcpherson-0047.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-golden-background-mia-mcpherson-0047.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-golden-background-mia-mcpherson-0047.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-golden-background-mia-mcpherson-0047.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113643,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/02\/roadside-baby-uinta-ground-squirrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":47162,"position":2},"title":"Roadside Baby Uinta Ground Squirrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I am completely unable to resist taking baby Uinta Ground Squirrel photos. 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