{"id":37156,"date":"2016-03-17T05:27:32","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T11:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=37156"},"modified":"2026-01-08T13:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T19:36:59","slug":"a-west-desert-horned-lark-in-golden-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/17\/a-west-desert-horned-lark-in-golden-light\/","title":{"rendered":"West Desert Horned Lark in Golden Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WestWest Desert Horned Lark female – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I have been seeing Horned Larks by the thousands here in southern Utah but they haven’t been very cooperative, for that matter so far the only bird I have gotten high quality images of is the Peregrine Falcon<\/span><\/a> that I posted yesterday.<\/p>\n

This West Desert Horned Lark in golden light was taken in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County on a clear morning last month.<\/p>\n

\"WestWest Desert Horned Lark female at sun rise – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Horned Larks return to the breeding grounds where they hatched every migration. Because they do local populations have adapted to the colors found in their habitat in their plumage which gives us about 15 distinct subspecies in the western part of their range.<\/p>\n

The Horned Larks<\/span><\/a> I have photographed in southern Utah have been paler overall than the larks I photograph in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

I hope to find and photograph more birds today. I also hope the wind won’t be as much of a problem as it has been my first two days down here. It was miserable for a while.<\/p>\n

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

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.<\/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":"

This West Desert Horned Lark in golden light was taken in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County on a clear morning last month. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166603,"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":[27,436,358,26,1314],"tags":[4098,4181,4070,4254,1327,6433,2136,4099,4104,4921,465,4190],"class_list":["post-37156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-horned-larks","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-desert","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-female","tag-golden-light","tag-horned-lark","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-morning-light","tag-perched","tag-rock","tag-sun-rise","tag-sunrise"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-tooele-mia-mcpherson-4051.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9Fi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":116796,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/06\/fall-male-horned-lark-plus-a-bonus-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":37156,"position":0},"title":"Fall Male Horned Lark Plus A Bonus Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fall male Horned Lark in the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7980,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/31\/female-horned-lark-and-the-moon-setting-over-the-stansbury-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":37156,"position":1},"title":"Female Horned Lark And The Moon Setting Over The Stansbury Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photograph tons of male Horned Larks but don't have that many images of female Horned Larks, I was happy to find this beautiful female dancing and singing on a boulder in early morning light yesterday in Tooele County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing female Horned Lark in Tooele County, Utah.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1887,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/02\/14\/horned-larks\/","url_meta":{"origin":37156,"position":2},"title":"Horned Larks In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was awesome for Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) in Tooele County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alert Horned Lark male perched on a rock in the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10059,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/11\/02\/male-horned-lark-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":37156,"position":3},"title":"Male Horned Lark In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In the West Desert of Utah there are a few places in Tooele County I can almost be sure to find Horned Larks warming themselves in the morning light on rocks and boulders.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Horned Lark crouching to take off from a rock in the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-hunched-down-mia-mcpherson-4358.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-hunched-down-mia-mcpherson-4358.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-hunched-down-mia-mcpherson-4358.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-hunched-down-mia-mcpherson-4358.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"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":37156,"position":4},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8112,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/15\/great-horned-owls-and-horned-larks-birds-with-ear-tufts\/","url_meta":{"origin":37156,"position":5},"title":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks – Birds with Tufts","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great Horned Owl on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37156","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=37156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}