{"id":98991,"date":"2022-01-16T05:10:02","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T12:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=98991"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:58:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:58:51","slug":"yellow-bellied-marmot-out-and-about-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/16\/yellow-bellied-marmot-out-and-about-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-bellied Marmot Out And About In January"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yellow-belliedYellow-bellied Marmot out and about in January \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I found and pointed out dozens of birds yesterday but the biggest surprise to me was spotting a Yellow-bellied Marmot out and about in the middle of January. Last year I spotted a Yellow-bellied Marmot within a mile of this one on February 7th<\/span><\/a> and that was too early for marmots to be out of their burrows.<\/p>\n

The marmot that I found yesterday beat that one by being out of its burrow three weeks earlier.<\/p>\n

The Yellow-bellied Marmot that I found yesterday appeared healthy. The marmot was doing what marmots do on chilly mornings and it was sunning itself on top of the lichen-covered rocks.<\/p>\n

That is typical behavior for marmots starting around the middle of March but not on a January morning where I saw a low of 10\u00b0F. Yellow-bellied Marmots should still be underground and hibernating at this time of the year.<\/p>\n

I can only speculate as to the reasons why this marmot was above ground when I found it yesterday. I don’t have enough data to do anything else.<\/p>\n

The marmot may not have been able to gather enough food last year before going underground due to our drought or it may be ill but as I mentioned above it looked\u00a0 and acted healthy.<\/p>\n

I strongly suspect that climate change has something to do with my early sightings of these marmots above the ground the past two years.<\/p>\n

I shared a back of camera cell phone snap yesterday on Facebook and one of my friends and fellow photographers, Kevin Doxstater, replied with a link to an article about nature being out of sync.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

One of his marmot photos was featured in the article. Although the article was written in 2011 the content about nature being out of sync applies today.<\/p>\n

Yesterday in the area where I found this Yellow-bellied Marmot I could see grasses that have already greened up. During my travels yesterday I also noticed tree buds that appear ready to pop open.<\/p>\n

A few days ago I found wild violets blooming in my front yard. I have heard Sandhill Cranes that shouldn’t be in northern Utah this early in the year.<\/p>\n

I am seeing signs of spring in northern Utah and all of that is a bit strange and early in January. I am sure there will come a time when I am not surprised to see signs of spring in the middle of winter. Today is not that time.<\/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":"

I found and pointed out dozens of birds yesterday but the biggest surprise to me was spotting a Yellow-bellied Marmot out and about in the middle of January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1148,26,231],"tags":[4004,3462,4098,5700,12710,3291,5771,9979,1632,5854,2241,4984,4921,4470,5697,4018,11001,373,4029],"class_list":["post-98991","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-climate-change","tag-desert","tag-hibernation","tag-january","tag-lichen","tag-lichen-covered","tag-lichens","tag-mammals","tag-marmot","tag-marmota-flaviventris","tag-marmots","tag-rock","tag-rocks","tag-rodents","tag-sky","tag-too-early","tag-winter","tag-yellow-bellied-marmot"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t