{"id":14611,"date":"2014-03-24T05:18:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T11:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14611"},"modified":"2026-04-28T06:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:27:39","slug":"a-western-meadowlark-on-the-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/24\/a-western-meadowlark-on-the-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Meadowlark On The Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Five days ago while on <a href=\"https:\/\/stateparks.utah.gov\/parks\/antelope-island\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> I photographed this Western Meadowlark as it sang on the stump of a dead Sagebrush. There are plenty of Western Meadowlarks singing on the island right now but they aren&#8217;t all that easy to approach yet.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-133733 size-full\" title=\"Flying Western Meadowlark\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg\" alt=\"Flying Western Meadowlark, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"14610\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Flying Western Meadowlark &#8211; Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or called in<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As they go deeper into their breeding season they will be easier to approach. I took quite a few images of this meadowlark singing but was more focused on getting a photo of it in the air. The Western Meadowlark was quite obliging and lifted off.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/western-meadowlark-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Western Meadowlark photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five days ago while on Antelope Island I photographed this Western Meadowlark as it sang on the stump of a dead Sagebrush. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,26,371],"tags":[4004,4098,4052,4122,9070,4282,4824,4825,6384,4057,5113,4061,4308],"class_list":["post-14611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","category-western-meadowlarks","tag-adult","tag-desert","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-island","tag-lift-off","tag-meadowlark","tag-meadowlarks","tag-on-the-wing","tag-sagebrush","tag-stump","tag-sturnella-neglecta","tag-western-meadowlark"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3NF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14753,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/15\/open-air-concert-of-a-western-meadowlark-singing-from-a-sagebrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":14611,"position":0},"title":"Open Air Concert of a Western Meadowlark Singing from a Sagebrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was a bit like a wonderful open air concert on Antelope Island with the calls of Curlews, Willets, Chukars, Red-winged Blackbirds and Western Meadowlarks floating through the air.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark singing from a Sagebrush near the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8411,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/05\/22\/western-meadowlark-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":14611,"position":1},"title":"Western Meadowlark In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This Western Meadowlark lifted off from a Sagebrush and I was able to track it and capture this image as soon as it was airborne. I've found it difficult to get images of Western Meadowlarks in flight because they move so quickly.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7525.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7525.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7525.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7525.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46058,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/08\/female-and-male-western-meadowlarks\/","url_meta":{"origin":14611,"position":2},"title":"Female And Male Western Meadowlarks &#8211; A Glimpse Into Their Mating Behaviors","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago while out on Antelope Island State Park under cloudy skies I was able to observe a glimpse into the mating behaviors of a pair of Western Meadowlarks.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Western Meadowlark rattling, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-female-calling-mia-mcpherson-4681.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-female-calling-mia-mcpherson-4681.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-female-calling-mia-mcpherson-4681.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-female-calling-mia-mcpherson-4681.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4427,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/16\/another-western-meadowlark-from-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":14611,"position":3},"title":"Another Western Meadowlark From Today","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I couldn't resist posting another Western Meadowlark image that I created today even though I posted one earlier this morning.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffy Western Meadowlark on Antelope Island SP, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3837.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3837.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101020,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/25\/western-meadowlark-singing\/","url_meta":{"origin":14611,"position":4},"title":"Western Meadowlark Singing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The song of this Western Meadowlark that I found two days ago on Antelope Island State Park was a wonderful springtime melody that I needed to hear.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark singing in spring, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/western-meadowlark-spring-song-mia-mcpherson-4421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/western-meadowlark-spring-song-mia-mcpherson-4421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/western-meadowlark-spring-song-mia-mcpherson-4421.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/western-meadowlark-spring-song-mia-mcpherson-4421.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34271,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/19\/western-meadowlark-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":14611,"position":5},"title":"Western Meadowlark in Snow &#8211; Stretching, Preening and Resting","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a great time photographing a Western Meadowlark in snow yesterday on Antelope Island State Park near the White Rock Bay campgrounds.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark on a puff of snow regaining its balance after a stretch, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-snow-mia-mcpherson-8845.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-snow-mia-mcpherson-8845.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-snow-mia-mcpherson-8845.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-snow-mia-mcpherson-8845.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175533,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14611\/revisions\/175533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}