{"id":116796,"date":"2023-10-06T04:57:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T10:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=116796"},"modified":"2023-10-07T04:35:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T10:35:02","slug":"fall-male-horned-lark-plus-a-bonus-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/06\/fall-male-horned-lark-plus-a-bonus-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall Male Horned Lark Plus A Bonus Photo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning, I spent time photographing a male Horned Lark perched on a barbed wire fence in the West Desert, with Stansbury Island<\/span><\/a> in the background.<\/p>\n

\"FallFall male Horned Lark in the West Desert \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +1.o EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was happy to photograph this male Horned Lark, even though it was perched on a barbed wire fence. The light was beautiful, and the sky was blue. I lined up my Jeep to include Stansbury Island in the background, which resulted in some color appearing at the lower edge of the image.<\/p>\n

\"FallFall male Horned Lark singing in the West Desert \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +1.o EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The male Horned Lark even sang for a bit which delighted me. Because of everything that has gone on in my life this year I haven’t been around many of these larks or heard their songs and calls<\/span><\/a>. His song relaxed me.<\/p>\n

I hadn’t been out to the West Desert at all this year and I was in need of the peace and solitude I find there. It was lovely and I found it.<\/p>\n

\"FallFall male Horned Lark in the West Desert – Larkspur inset \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +1.o EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Horned Lark bonus photo and information:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I wanted to include this bonus photo with the inset because it beautifully showcases the long hind claw, known as a larkspur, of this male Horned Lark.<\/p>\n

Horned larks have a long, straight claw on their hind toe called a larkspur. This claw is common on other species of larks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The length of the claw depends on the bird’s habitat; longer claws are found on birds that live in areas with soft ground and some vegetation, while shorter claws and toes are found on species that live in areas with harder ground.<\/p>\n

The claw on the horned lark’s hind toe is unusually long and quite straight, which is poorly suited to clasping branches but perfect for walking on the ground.<\/p>\n

My photo illustrates the remarkable length and straightness of the larkspur. Additionally, I find the yellow toe pads on the hind toe quite interesting.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Horned Lark photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning, I spent time photographing a male Horned Lark perched on a barbed wire fence in the West Desert, with Stansbury Island in the background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,436,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,970,4430,14424,4098,4181,4620,3830,7017,14423,1327,10265,6433,2136,14422,4062,4179,4018,10452],"class_list":["post-116796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-horned-larks","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-barbed-wire","tag-claw","tag-desert","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-fall","tag-fence","tag-foothills","tag-hind-toe","tag-horned-lark","tag-inset","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-larkspur","tag-male","tag-singing-2","tag-sky","tag-sky-island-mountains"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-unO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67842,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/05\/west-desert-male-horned-lark-singing-on-a-snow-topped-fence-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":116796,"position":0},"title":"West Desert Male Horned Lark Singing On A Snow-topped Fence Post","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this adult male Horned Lark singing on a snow-topped fence post three days ago after a spring snow fell overnight in the West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Horned Lark singing on a snow-topped fence post, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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