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Some of the Beartooth Mountains’ viewpoints had safe walking paths from the parking lot to the viewpoint itself.
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Beartooth Highway pathway from parking lot to a viewpoint
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It was along these pathways I happened upon a few other wildlife species.
The first photo is a new bird subspecies for me, the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon) that resides mainly west of the Rocky Mountains. At home, we have the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) that resides east of the Rocky Mountains.
The difference? The Myrtle warbler has a white throat; the Audubon has a yellow throat. It moved on super quick!
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Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon)
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There were cute little chipmunks that were quick to run too, not wanting their photo taken.
I lucked out on this brave one, staring me down. I felt like I was having a Clint Eastwood moment…. 😂
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Least Chipmunk staring me down
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And finally, I captured three species of squirrels.
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Red Squirrel
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Red Squirrel
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Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel – female
(I shot this from a distance of someone feeding sunflower seeds to them)
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Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel – Female (packing those jaws one-handed!)
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Female Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel heading back home with food, or maybe to hide it
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This next species is also in the ground squirrel family and a new wildlife sighting for me, the Yellow-bellied Marmot.
It was not only a treat to see and capture, but it was a Mama marmot and her youngster.
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Yellow-bellied Marmot (female)
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The Mama marmot had left her youngster at a tree trunk while she was foraging for food.
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Yellow-bellied Marmot (youngster) at the tree trunk, getting curious
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That curiosity pulled the youngster a few feet away to a pile of rocks. Suddenly, the youngster popped up, looking for Mama.
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“Where are you, Mama?”
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