{"id":144569,"date":"2025-05-18T02:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T07:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=144569"},"modified":"2025-05-17T19:36:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T00:36:45","slug":"lark-sparrow-on-lichen-covered-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/18\/lark-sparrow-on-lichen-covered-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Lark Sparrow On Lichen Covered Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Lark Sparrow was on such a beautiful pile of lichen covered rocks at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> last week that I had to take a photo.<\/p>\n

How could I pass it up? And really, why would I want to?<\/p>\n

\"LarkLark Sparrow on lichen covered rocks at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 800, -0.3 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The lichen-covered reddish rocks, the soft morning light, the spring grasses, and the surrounding prairie habitat practically demanded that I take a few photos of the Lark Sparrow.<\/p>\n

Lark Sparrows were abundant at the refuge, and I was truly delighted to see them. I found them in grassy habitats, like this one, and in places I didn\u2019t expect. Finding them in the oak forests on the refuge was a bit of a surprise for me.<\/p>\n

The Lark Sparrows in the oak forests were harder to photograph than this little beauty.<\/p>\n

The Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge is remarkable as one of the oldest and most ecologically significant wildlife refuges in the United States.<\/p>\n

Established in 1901 and encompassing over 59,000 acres in southwestern Oklahoma, the refuge protects a unique landscape of ancient granite mountains, some of the oldest in North America, dating back around 500 million years-rising dramatically above the southern plains.<\/p>\n

Multiple habitats at the refuge support an extraordinary diversity of life, including over 800 plant species, 240 bird species, 50 mammals, and dozens of reptiles, amphibians, and fish.<\/p>\n

The rich array of wildlife, thriving in a mosaic of prairie, forest, and rocky habitats, makes the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge a unique and vital haven for both common and rare species of the southern Great Plains.<\/p>\n

This handsome sparrow was just one of the many wonders that made me smile at the refuge.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This Lark Sparrow was on such a beautiful pile of lichen-covered rocks at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge last week that I had to take a photo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144566,"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":[27,16439,1465,13973,16438],"tags":[4004,4372,3747,4109,1539,3291,9979,16442,4921,4470,855,4195,165],"class_list":["post-144569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-comanche-county","category-lark-sparrows","category-oklahoma","category-wichita-mountains-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-chondestes-grammacus","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-lark-sparrow","tag-lichen","tag-lichens","tag-mixed-grass-prairie","tag-rock","tag-rocks","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-lichen-rocks-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2684.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-BBL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":147971,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/07\/lark-sparrow-on-a-hackberry\/","url_meta":{"origin":144569,"position":0},"title":"Lark Sparrow On A Hackberry","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m sharing another Lark Sparrow photo I took last month while visiting Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in south-central Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lark Sparrow on a hackberry in Oklahoma, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/lark-sparrow-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-3797.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/lark-sparrow-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-3797.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/lark-sparrow-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-3797.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/lark-sparrow-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-3797.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":144376,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/17\/male-eastern-collared-lizard-photos-from-wichita-mountains-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":144569,"position":1},"title":"Male Eastern Collared Lizard Photos From Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I had never photographed an Eastern Collared Lizard until earlier this week at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in beautiful southwestern Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Comanche County"","block_context":{"text":"Comanche County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/comanche-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Eastern Collared Lizard at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":147619,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/31\/female-eastern-collared-lizard-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":144569,"position":2},"title":"Female Eastern Collared Lizard Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this month when I shared male Eastern Collared Lizard images, I said I'd also share some photos of the females. I'm doing that today before I forget.","rel":"","context":"In "Comanche County"","block_context":{"text":"Comanche County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/comanche-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Collared Lizard female on a lichen covered rock, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-female-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-5111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-female-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-5111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-female-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-5111.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/house-sparrow-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/house-sparrow-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/house-sparrow-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6740.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/house-sparrow-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6740.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100931,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/20\/world-sparrow-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":144569,"position":4},"title":"World Sparrow Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is World Sparrow Day and since I love all of the sparrows on the planet I thought I'd share some of the sparrows I have photographed in North America.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in a hackberry tree, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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