{"id":73994,"date":"2020-09-23T05:32:32","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T11:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=73994"},"modified":"2026-02-25T06:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:40:12","slug":"least-chipmunk-with-a-fly-on-its-head-things-that-make-me-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/23\/least-chipmunk-with-a-fly-on-its-head-things-that-make-me-laugh\/","title":{"rendered":"Least Chipmunk With a Fly On Its Head &#8211; Things That Make Me Laugh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-170378 size-full\" title=\"Least Chipmunk with a fly on its head, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946.jpg\" alt=\"Least Chipmunk with a fly on its head, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Least Chipmunk with a fly on it head \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>There are times I see funny things while I am out photographing that tickle me so much that I have to laugh out loud and yesterday that was this Least Chipmunk with a fly on its head.<\/p>\n<p>I was out in the West Desert checking out the same spot where I photographed the <a title=\"Warbling Vireo And Fall Colors In The Stansbury Mountains\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/22\/warbling-vireo-and-fall-colors-in-the-stansbury-mountains\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Warbling Vireo I shared yesterday<\/span><\/a> when I noticed the Least Chipmunk. Even though the light angle wasn&#8217;t the best I locked focus on the chipmunk and started taking images of it.<\/p>\n<p>A few frames later I started laughing because through my viewfinder I saw a fly land on top of the chipmunk&#8217;s head.\u00a0 The fly stayed on the chipmunk&#8217;s head for thirty-two images and I think I giggled for thirty-one of those photos.<\/p>\n<p>Those small black flies have been annoying me for the past several weeks because they buzz my face, land on my hands and I have even seen them mating on the sleeves of my shirts.<\/p>\n<p>The chipmunk didn&#8217;t seem to even notice the fly because it kept right on eating the berry that it had in its tiny paws. With a fly for a hat or a crown.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m glad that I went back out to the same spot yesterday to look for birds because if I hadn&#8217;t I would never have seen the fly land on this chipmunk&#8217;s head.<\/p>\n<p>I also saw more Warbling Vireos, Western Tanagers, White-crowned Sparrows, Red-breasted Nuthatches and a immature Sharp-shinned Hawk in that small area.<\/p>\n<p>From one day to the next I never know what wonderful things I will see and photograph when I am out in nature. I am always grateful for the occasions when what I see makes me laugh especially during these turbulent and unprecedented times.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/least-chipmunk-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Least Chipmunk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are times I see funny things while I am out photographing that tickle me so much that I have to laugh out loud and yesterday that was this Least Chipmunk with a fly on its head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170378,"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":[5922,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,3940,4383,5352,10447,10450,10451,5779,5370,4157,10454,6306,10453,5351,4069,2264,10446,10452],"class_list":["post-73994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-least-chipmunks","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-chipmunk","tag-chipmunks","tag-cornus-sericea","tag-dogwood","tag-dogwoods","tag-fly","tag-forest","tag-funny","tag-giggled","tag-head","tag-laugh","tag-least-chipmunk","tag-mountains","tag-tamias-minimus","tag-red-osier-dogwood","tag-sky-island-mountains"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-and-fly-mia-mcpherson-1946.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jfs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59517,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/15\/wasatch-mountain-chipmunk-acrobatics\/","url_meta":{"origin":73994,"position":0},"title":"Wasatch Mountain Chipmunk Acrobatics","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I had fun yesterday photographing a few chipmunks up in the Wasatch Mountains including this chippy performing acrobatics while trying to get to thistle seeds.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Least Chipmunks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Least Chipmunks","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/least-chipmunks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Least Chipmunk stretching out in a thistle, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chipmunk-stretched-out-between-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0041.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chipmunk-stretched-out-between-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0041.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chipmunk-stretched-out-between-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0041.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chipmunk-stretched-out-between-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0041.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104788,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/05\/least-chipmunk-family-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":73994,"position":1},"title":"Least Chipmunk Family Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Two mornings ago I had an absolutely fantastic time photographing a Least Chipmunk family feeding, cuddling, grooming and playing high in the mountains.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Least Chipmunks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Least Chipmunks","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/least-chipmunks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Least Chipmunk family, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/least-chipmunk-family-mia-mcpherson-0323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/least-chipmunk-family-mia-mcpherson-0323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/least-chipmunk-family-mia-mcpherson-0323.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/least-chipmunk-family-mia-mcpherson-0323.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60127,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/10\/caption-call-chipmunk-fun\/","url_meta":{"origin":73994,"position":2},"title":"Caption Call &#8211; Chipmunk Fun","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Least Chipmunks had been chasing each other around on a low leafless shrub and then this happened, the tail of the upper chipmunk rested on the head of the other chippie for exactly two frames.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Least Chipmunks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Least Chipmunks","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/least-chipmunks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chipmunk Fun - A Tail of Two Chippies, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunks-funny-mia-mcpherson-3308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunks-funny-mia-mcpherson-3308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunks-funny-mia-mcpherson-3308.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunks-funny-mia-mcpherson-3308.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74846,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/23\/least-chipmunk-grooming-session\/","url_meta":{"origin":73994,"position":3},"title":"Least Chipmunk Grooming Session","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These five images of a Least Chipmunk grooming session are some of the last photos of chipmunks I took high in the Wasatch Mountains in 2020.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;East Canyon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"East Canyon","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/east-canyon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Least Chipmunk licking its tail, East Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-grooming-mia-mcpherson-0704.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-grooming-mia-mcpherson-0704.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-grooming-mia-mcpherson-0704.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-grooming-mia-mcpherson-0704.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47332,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/16\/east-canyon-least-chipmunks\/","url_meta":{"origin":73994,"position":4},"title":"East Canyon Least Chipmunks &#8211; Chippies Delight Me","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday while up in the Wasatch Mountains I was delighted to be able to photograph two Least Chipmunks I found in East Canyon of Morgan County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;East Canyon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"East Canyon","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/east-canyon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Least Chipmunk on a log in spring, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-log-mia-mcpherson-9809.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-log-mia-mcpherson-9809.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-log-mia-mcpherson-9809.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/least-chipmunk-log-mia-mcpherson-9809.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40757,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/02\/wasatch-mountain-range-chipmunk\/","url_meta":{"origin":73994,"position":5},"title":"Wasatch Mountain Range Chipmunk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It seemed like every where I looked I saw little chipmunks scurrying around on the ground and climbing in the scrub oaks that dot the western side of the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Davis County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Least Chipmunk in the Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/least-chipmunk-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7183.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/least-chipmunk-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7183.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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