{"id":82766,"date":"2021-03-29T06:02:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T12:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=82766"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:55:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:55:31","slug":"spring-yellow-bellied-marmot-resting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/29\/spring-yellow-bellied-marmot-resting\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Yellow-bellied Marmot Resting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yellow-belliedYellow-bellied Marmot resting on a cliff \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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. Even though the marmot was at a distance I took a few photos of it because I liked the colorful lichen-covered rocks of the cliff face and how they matched some of the colors in the marmot’s fur.<\/p>\n

This female marmot probably has pups in a den nearby.<\/p>\n

I’ve been spotting Yellow-bellied Marmots quite often recently and with our spring weather warming things up I should see even more of them. The weather forecast for here shows some temps in the low to mid 70’s as early as Friday. I am ready for some warmer weather and I’d bet the marmots are too.<\/p>\n

In some of the locations where I have reliably seen marmots in previous years I haven’t seen a single one so I have been looking for them in other areas.<\/p>\n

Marmots are marvelous rodents that are only seen above ground for a few months of the year and I try to take advantage of every opportunity I can to have them in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

While the adults are wonderful to photograph I especially enjoy photographing the young pups because they can be playful with each other.<\/p>\n

If I had been focused only on the nesting hawks this resting marmot I would have missed seeing this Yellow-bellied Marmot<\/span><\/a> high up on the cliff. Over the years I have learned to pay attention to what is going on outside of my viewfinder as well as what is going on inside of it.<\/p>\n

On a more personal note, I get my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine today. I am anxious to get it done and over with.<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171440,"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":[4004,5131,4098,3291,5771,5854,2241,4984,4156,4470,8973,4018,165,4029],"class_list":["post-82766","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-lichen","tag-lichen-covered","tag-marmot","tag-marmota-flaviventris","tag-marmots","tag-resting","tag-rocks","tag-rodent","tag-sky","tag-spring","tag-yellow-bellied-marmot"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-high-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8946.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-lwW","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":82766,"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, 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=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68101,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/09\/yellow-bellied-marmot-high-up-on-a-cliff\/","url_meta":{"origin":82766,"position":1},"title":"Yellow-bellied Marmot High Up On A Cliff","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I have taken thousands of images of Yellow-bellied Marmots where the marmots have been closer but very few of them that include as much habitat as this photo does.","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":"Adult Yellow-bellied Marmot high up on a cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2614.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-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2614.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2614.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-on-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2614.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":126962,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/01\/yellow-bellied-marmot-on-a-cliff\/","url_meta":{"origin":82766,"position":2},"title":"Yellow-bellied Marmot On A Cliff","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Adult male Yellow-bellied Marmot on a cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-male-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8926.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-male-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8926.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-male-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8926.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-male-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8926.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45326,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/04\/yellow-bellied-marmot-in-a-crevice-with-lichen-covered-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":82766,"position":3},"title":"Yellow-bellied Marmot In A Crevice With Lichen Covered Rocks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I am very fond of Yellow-bellied Marmots so when I spotted one clambering down some rocks into a crevice close to the road I became excited and as soon as I could I started taking photos of it.","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 in a rocky crevice, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-mia-mcpherson-0284.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-mia-mcpherson-0284.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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