{"id":86402,"date":"2021-04-30T05:34:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T11:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=86402"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:50:10","slug":"my-first-of-year-uinta-ground-squirrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/30\/my-first-of-year-uinta-ground-squirrels\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Of Year Uinta Ground Squirrels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> where I found and photographed my first of year Uinta Ground Squirrels with frost on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"StandingStanding Uinta Ground Squirrel and frost \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was in the mountains in March it was still too early to see these ground squirrels but they are out and about now and it was wonderful to hear their calls and see them above ground.<\/p>\n

I know that some people think these squirrels are pests. I don’t and they are fun to photograph too, especially the babies who should be making their appearance before too long.<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo Uinta Ground Squirrels on a frosty April morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f13, 1\/320, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

These two adult Uinta Ground Squirrels stood side by side for the longest time above their burrow in the frosty grasses. When I left the squirrels they were still standing next to each other.<\/p>\n

\"UintaUinta Ground Squirrel standing in frosted grasses \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Uinta Ground Squirrels spend only a few months above ground so I try to photograph them as often as I can where ever I can. I photographed a few more ground squirrels yesterday morning but I liked these images that included the frosted grasses the most. The frost on the grasses sparkled like tiny diamonds in the bright morning light.<\/p>\n

It won’t be long before it is too warm even in the high Wasatch Mountains for frost to form. It is supposed to be 83\u00b0F down here in the valley today!<\/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":"

Yesterday I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains where I found and photographed my first of year Uinta Ground Squirrels with frost on the ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171719,"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":[1731,1630,26,773],"tags":[4004,3940,3983,6904,368,3747,4109,1631,5071,4378,4069,6456,165,3826,3827,953,2619,2620],"class_list":["post-86402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summit-county-utah","category-uinta-ground-squirrel","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-frost","tag-frosted","tag-frosty","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-ground-squirrel","tag-ground-squirrels","tag-morning","tag-mountains","tag-side-by-side","tag-spring","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrels","tag-standing","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-squirrels-frosty-morning-mia-mcpherson-2534.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-mtA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59125,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/20\/wasatch-mountain-uinta-ground-squirrels-in-sagebrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":86402,"position":0},"title":"Wasatch Mountain Uinta Ground Squirrels In Sagebrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As I photographed a pair of Uinta Ground Squirrels in a sagebrush high up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday I realized that before long these squirrels will be gone from my view.","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 perched on sagebrush, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-sagebrush-perch-mia-mcpherson-0739.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-sagebrush-perch-mia-mcpherson-0739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-sagebrush-perch-mia-mcpherson-0739.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-sagebrush-perch-mia-mcpherson-0739.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67050,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/16\/uinta-ground-squirrels-have-emerged\/","url_meta":{"origin":86402,"position":1},"title":"Uinta Ground Squirrels Have Emerged!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I have taken thousands of photos of Uinta Ground Squirrels in green grasses, on rocks, climbing stumps, at their burrows, and in sagebrush but not a single image of them in the snow.","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":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrel in spring grasses, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.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-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52309,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/27\/young-uinta-ground-squirrels-through-my-lens\/","url_meta":{"origin":86402,"position":2},"title":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrels Through My Lens","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a blast photographing these baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and sharing them with my Mom. It was a peaceful, relaxing morning filled with birds, squirrels, lovely scenery and great company.","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":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrel at a burrow, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.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-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":90542,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/17\/baby-uinta-ground-squirrel-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":86402,"position":3},"title":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrel Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was able to take a nice long series of baby Uinta Ground Squirrel photos high in the Wasatch Mountains.","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":"Two alert baby Uinta Ground Squirrels, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.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-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57527,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/30\/adult-uinta-ground-squirrel-close-up-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":86402,"position":4},"title":"Adult Uinta Ground Squirrel Close Up In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't get any photos of the Uinta Ground Squirrels while I was up in the canyons last week and I will need to fix that soon because I adore these furry, dark-eyed 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 close up, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1728.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-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1728.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1728.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1728.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70118,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/20\/baby-uinta-ground-squirrels-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":86402,"position":5},"title":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrels In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeing the baby ground squirrels brought a smile to my face and I must admit that my heart skipped a beat. 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