![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/western-meadowlark-6792b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this meadowlark a week ago on Antelope Island as it\u00a0looked for food in the new grasses. Every few seconds it would break out into song and then go back to foraging. When it perched on this old dried-up buffalo chip I couldn’t resist firing away and those photos have grown on me every time I look at them. I know from posting photos of Horned Larks on\u00a0buffalo chips\u00a0in the past that dung in my images has little appeal for many viewers\u00a0but for me there’s more\u00a0to this photo than just the aesthetics (or lack thereof…) of the image.<\/p>\n Think about it. For millennia this would have been an extremely common sight on the North American Plains. If you can, go back in your mind to about 5,000 years ago. It’s a springtime morning somewhere on the plains and the rolling hills are covered with grasses and wildflowers. Birds are singing and there’s thousands of bison (buffalo)\u00a0peacefully grazing\u00a0the hills in every direction to the horizon.\u00a0One of the most common birds would be the Western Meadowlark and\u00a0as is their penchant many of them would regularly perch atop buffalo chips and sing their little hearts out.<\/p>\n Now, think about how many living humans have ever seen a meadowlark on a buffalo chip – very, very few. To me it’s a privilege to view such a primordial sight – it’s almost romantic in a way (as in an idealized view of the past). I realize that taste is a personal thing and I likely have convinced very few of the appeal of an image like this but I had to present my point of view.<\/p>\n One more thing. Viewers likely instantly noticed the unconventional composition of this image with the bird further to the left than I would normally place it but I wanted to include as much of the chip as possible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n