{"id":61299,"date":"2019-11-09T04:53:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-09T11:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61299"},"modified":"2023-04-11T05:00:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T11:00:46","slug":"west-desert-rock-squirrel-on-top-of-a-juniper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/09\/west-desert-rock-squirrel-on-top-of-a-juniper\/","title":{"rendered":"West Desert Rock Squirrel On Top Of A Juniper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RockRock Squirrel at the top of a Juniper tree \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

A soft blue sky, a juniper and a Rock Squirrel made me pretty happy two days ago because I don’t have these squirrels in my viewfinder nearly as often as I’d like to. Most of our ground squirrels went into hibernation months ago but Rock Squirrels are active during the winter except for the coldest days of the year.<\/p>\n

When I first spotted this Rock Squirrel I couldn’t quite make out what it was because of the angle of sunlight but after moving further down the mountain slope I was delighted to have a clear view of the squirrel.<\/p>\n

This is a simple image really but it is one I have been trying to take for several years. I’ve taken other images of Rock Squirrels at the top of junipers but the light angle has been wrong, the squirrels were mostly buried in the junipers or the shooting angle was to0 steep. Everything about this Rock Squirrel<\/span><\/a> photo feels just right to me.<\/p>\n

Plus I was above the inversion so the clear sky looked great!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

By the way, I didn’t need to have my ISO and shutter speed so high for this squirrel, I had just forgotten to set it back to my default settings.<\/em><\/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":"

A soft blue sky, a juniper and a Rock Squirrel made me pretty happy two days ago because I don’t have these squirrels in my viewfinder nearly as often as I’d like to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112383,"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":[5661,358,26,1314,99],"tags":[2069,771,3914,4069,5662,5663,3826,3827,4427],"class_list":["post-61299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rock-squirrels","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","category-wildlife","tag-blue-sky","tag-inversion","tag-juniper","tag-mountains","tag-otospermophilus-variegatus","tag-rock-squirrel","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrels","tag-tree"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fWH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":111956,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/02\/rock-squirrel-tree-topper\/","url_meta":{"origin":61299,"position":0},"title":"Rock Squirrel Tree Topper","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost three years ago, I photographed this Rock Squirrel perched in top of a juniper in the foothills of some sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah.","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 on a juniper on the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44963,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/14\/mercur-canyon-rock-squirrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":61299,"position":1},"title":"Mercur Canyon Rock Squirrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't have much luck at all with birds yesterday in the west desert canyons but I did spot and photograph a Rock Squirrel in Mercur Canyon.","rel":"","context":"In "Mercur Canyon"","block_context":{"text":"Mercur Canyon","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/mercur-canyon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rock Squirrel on rocks in Mercur Canyon, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99148,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/21\/squirrel-appreciation-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":61299,"position":2},"title":"Squirrel Appreciation Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"January 21st is Squirrel Appreciation Day around the globe. There are many reasons to appreciate these furry, four legged, cute creatures.\u00a0","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":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrel calling from a rock, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-calling-mia-mcpherson-4066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-calling-mia-mcpherson-4066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-calling-mia-mcpherson-4066.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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National Squirrel Appreciation Day and it recognizes these creatures that some people consider pests while others find them fascinating.","rel":"","context":"In "American Red Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Red Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/american-red-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wasatch Mountains Rock Squirrel, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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