Category: Larks

Horned Larks Blowin’ in the Wind

 I have particularly fond memories of Horned Larks from growing up on our northwestern Montana family farm near Cut Bank, Montana.  The fallow barley fields and adjacent short grass prairies abounded with them.  But since I began photographing birds I’ve had very few opportunities with them here in Utah – until last week when had a grand time with multiple cooperative larks in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains.   And yes, the wind was blowing briskly – a perfect situation to remind me of those Montana larks!    Singing in the wind The  wind seemed to inspire the males to sing as they all seemed to be singing up a storm on this day, despite the early February date.      Blown off the perch While it may look like this male is taking flight, in reality it was being blown off the perch by a sudden gust of wind.  If it had been taking off, both wings would be extended.       Wind- disheveled  feathers  In this photo, the wind updraft from the rock perch blew a perfect semicircle of his upper chest feathers into his black neck ring, making him look pretty silly.      Very obvious “horns” This photo shows the “horns” (occipital feather tufts) that are characteristic of the species.  The horns are found on both sexes but they are much less obvious in the female and rarely erected.  This frontal view of the head shows the horns most distinctly when they are raised.     Horns laying almost flat At times the horns are laid flat against the…

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Photographing Birds on Antelope Island

  My previous post was an overview of the geology of Antelope Island and its non-bird wildlife.  Here, I’ll focus on its birds.   Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike begging for food Loggerhead Shrikes are common on many parts of the island during summer.  They can be a challenge to approach but those few that nest close to the road eventually get used to traffic so if you photograph from your vehicle you can often get quite close.  Here this juvenile was begging for food that was being delivered by a parent just out of frame to the left.    Loggerhead Shrike with dragonfly  Shrikes are often called “butcher birds” for their practice of temporarily impaling their prey on thorns or other sharp projections.   This juvenile had done just that with the dragonfly but it wasn’t very good at it yet and in the end just decided to eat it instead of store it away.     Loggerhead Shrike with spider Shrikes are opportunistic carnivores known to feed on insects, spiders, amphibians, small reptiles, rodents and other birds.   This one also attempted to impale the prey before eating it.     Juvenile Burrowing Owl practicing its parallax technique on me Burrowing Owls are one of my favorite species on the island though they can be difficult to locate from year to year as they often don’t seem to nest in the same burrow the next year.  In the summer of 2009 there was an entire family of owls along the causeway to the island nesting under concrete rubble, as in the…

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