Category: Larks

Western Meadowlark Potpourri

On my last post which featured closeups of mating Lark Sparrows, long-time follower of my blog Tana Hunter asked “How about getting this close to some meadowlarks?”   Her request reminded me that I’ve posted very few images of Western Meadowlarks in the 19 months I’ve been blogging so I did a little digging and these images are what I came up with.  It’s another relatively long post but with this weather and its attendant crappy light I can’t be out shooting birds so I might as well be playing around with their images to take some of the sting out of my cabin fever… Here are a few interesting factual tidbits about Western Meadowlarks to hopefully get you in the mood: Although early explorers (including Lewis and Clark) were aware of the existence of the Western Meadowlark, it was subsequently ignored by most naturalists of the day so when John James Audubon gave the bird its Latin name, he chose Sturnella neglecta (the species name in recognition of that lack of attention) The Western Meadowlark is not a lark (though it is a gifted songster); instead it is most closely related to the blackbirds When probing into soil for food, these birds force their long bills into the ground and then the mandibles are spread apart, opening and loosening the soil to make food more obtainable They are particularly fond of sprouting grain in farmers fields.  They bore into the soil with the long bill, grasp the soft germinating seed and then crush it to obtain the milk and usually discard…

Continue reading

Meadowlark Take-off

Just a single image this time. While photographing magpies at their nest this morning this cheeky Western Meadowlark had the gall to land right next door to the nest for a few seconds before it took off again.    1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, f00 f/4 I’d taken the teleconverter off for the larger magpies so it’s a bit of a heftier crop than I’d prefer and I wish I had a little more room up top for composition.  And there’s some “stuff” in front of the bird but despite all that I liked the shot anyway. These meadowlarks are beginning to sing up a storm out on the island. Ron

Continue reading

Horned Lark On Wild Sunflowers

I’ve always had a soft spot for Horned Larks because they remind me so much of growing up on the family farm in nw Montana.  But in virtually all of my images of them they’re perched on rocks or on the ground.    1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Earlier this week I found this male perched on – yes, another rock.  But while I was photographing him he flew to this nearby sunflower head and started picking seeds out of it.  I like the setting and that you can see the seed in the beak with the seed husk blowing away in the breeze under the wing-tip.  Ron

Continue reading

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…

Continue reading

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…

Continue reading