Birds, Bugs And Frustrations On Antelope Island
Antelope Island is crawling (and flying) with “bugs” right now. Mosquitoes are common, flying midges are thick as are the dreaded biting gnats (I call this the “itching and bitching” season).
Category: Larks
Horned Larks Attending To Domestic Duties
It’s not easy to get photos of Horned Larks with insects in their beaks. The diet of adults of the species consists largely of seeds year-round but they do feed insects to their young so if you can catch them at the right time of year it’s possible to get photos of them with insects. Yesterday morning in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains I photographed both a male and a female with their beaks full of insects.
Anticipating Take-off Angles – Meadowlarks
Avoiding “clipped” body parts is perhaps the biggest challenge associated with take-off shots.
Meadowlarks, Take-offs And “Armpits”
When I’m photographing Western Meadowlarks at take-off there’s always one flight posture I hope I don’t get.
Meadowlark In Flight
Yesterday I was able to get a shot of a Western Meadowlark that may be one of my favorite images of a songbird in flight. But there’s a potential flaw that niggles at me…
Meadowlark Singing On Sagebrush
Goofy Western Meadowlark
This was the strangest behavior I’ve ever seen from a meadowlark, though it was difficult to capture photographically.
Western Meadowlarks Of Spring
Meadowlarks have been arriving in good numbers for several weeks now but they’re quite difficult to approach in early spring. Once breeding behaviors begin in earnest they seem to be a little less skittish.
Western Meadowlark – The Scars Of Battle
The song of the meadowlark often stirs fond memories and thoughts of peaceful and melodious spring mornings. But for birds that song represents the tension of competition for territories and females – anything but tranquility.
Western Meadowlark In The Snow
In northern Utah, anticipating how long our Western Meadowlarks will stick around during winter is always a guessing game.
Birds Befuddled By Stray Feathers
Nothing serious this morning – just a couple of interesting and slightly amusing observations.
Birds “Wearing To Dark” – Some Visual Evidence As To Why
This past summer I posted these first two Loggerhead Shrike images as evidence that the ventral colors of the species change from white to almost black as the summer wears on and asked my readers why this occurs. Several responded with a logical explanation.
Three days ago I photographed a Horned Lark that may demonstrate that those readers were right.
Comparing Adult and Juvenile Meadowlarks – Plus A Bit Of A Laugh
Yesterday morning I photographed a juvenile Western Meadowlark on Antelope Island. I have few images of them at that stage of development so I couldn’t help comparing some of the differences between adult and juvenile.
Horned Lark On Mullein
For the past several weeks Antelope Island has been awash in the glorious yellows of moth mullein. It doesn’t cover the entire island but there are areas where entire hillsides have been festooned in mullein yellow.
A Minor Meadowlark Surprise
Yesterday morning I found this Western Meadowlark perched up high, in pretty good light and with a clean background so I couldn’t resist firing away.
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Horned Larks Attending To Domestic Duties
It’s not easy to get photos of Horned Larks with insects in their beaks. The diet of adults of the species consists largely of seeds year-round but they do feed insects to their young so if you can catch them at the right time of year it’s possible to get photos of them with insects. Yesterday morning in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains I photographed both a male and a female with their beaks full of insects.
Anticipating Take-off Angles – Meadowlarks
Avoiding “clipped” body parts is perhaps the biggest challenge associated with take-off shots.
Meadowlarks, Take-offs And “Armpits”
When I’m photographing Western Meadowlarks at take-off there’s always one flight posture I hope I don’t get.
Meadowlark In Flight
Yesterday I was able to get a shot of a Western Meadowlark that may be one of my favorite images of a songbird in flight. But there’s a potential flaw that niggles at me…
Meadowlark Singing On Sagebrush
Goofy Western Meadowlark
This was the strangest behavior I’ve ever seen from a meadowlark, though it was difficult to capture photographically.
Western Meadowlarks Of Spring
Meadowlarks have been arriving in good numbers for several weeks now but they’re quite difficult to approach in early spring. Once breeding behaviors begin in earnest they seem to be a little less skittish.
Western Meadowlark – The Scars Of Battle
The song of the meadowlark often stirs fond memories and thoughts of peaceful and melodious spring mornings. But for birds that song represents the tension of competition for territories and females – anything but tranquility.
Western Meadowlark In The Snow
In northern Utah, anticipating how long our Western Meadowlarks will stick around during winter is always a guessing game.
Birds Befuddled By Stray Feathers
Nothing serious this morning – just a couple of interesting and slightly amusing observations.
Birds “Wearing To Dark” – Some Visual Evidence As To Why
This past summer I posted these first two Loggerhead Shrike images as evidence that the ventral colors of the species change from white to almost black as the summer wears on and asked my readers why this occurs. Several responded with a logical explanation.
Three days ago I photographed a Horned Lark that may demonstrate that those readers were right.
Comparing Adult and Juvenile Meadowlarks – Plus A Bit Of A Laugh
Yesterday morning I photographed a juvenile Western Meadowlark on Antelope Island. I have few images of them at that stage of development so I couldn’t help comparing some of the differences between adult and juvenile.
Horned Lark On Mullein
For the past several weeks Antelope Island has been awash in the glorious yellows of moth mullein. It doesn’t cover the entire island but there are areas where entire hillsides have been festooned in mullein yellow.
A Minor Meadowlark Surprise
Yesterday morning I found this Western Meadowlark perched up high, in pretty good light and with a clean background so I couldn’t resist firing away.