{"id":38035,"date":"2016-04-10T05:40:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T11:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=38035"},"modified":"2026-01-08T14:10:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:10:28","slug":"a-startled-horned-lark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/10\/a-startled-horned-lark\/","title":{"rendered":"Startled Horned Lark"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StartledStartled Horned Lark – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days ago on Antelope Island State Park I was photographing White-crowned Sparrows and a Horned Lark near the group campgrounds in beautiful morning light.<\/p>\n

My main focus at the time had been on the White-crowned Sparrows simply because there were quite a few of them and they were very active but I focused on the male Horned Lark<\/span><\/a> for a bit hoping it would do something interesting.<\/p>\n

While I was focused on the lark a small bird; presumably a sparrow, zoomed past and I captured an image of a startled Horned Lark who reacted by raising his wings and calling while he moved down the rock a bit.<\/p>\n

Right after this image was taken the lark moved back to the top of the rock and continued singing in the warm rays of the sun.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

While I was focused on the lark a small bird; presumably a sparrow, zoomed past and I captured an image of a startled Horned Lark who reacted by raising his wings and calling while he moved down the rock a bit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166627,"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":[511,27,1022,436,26],"tags":[4138,4181,4038,1327,6433,2136,4062,4921,5051],"class_list":["post-38035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-horned-larks","category-utah","tag-boulder","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-grasslands","tag-horned-lark","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-male","tag-rock","tag-startled"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-startled-mia-mcpherson-4255.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9Tt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166438,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/06\/horned-lark-meet-the-2026-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":38035,"position":0},"title":"Horned Lark – Meet The 2026 ABA Bird Of The Year","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Meet the Horned Lark, chosen by the American Birding Association as the 2026 ABA Bird of the Year. A bold pick, and honestly a great one.","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":"Early spring Horned Lark male on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I took a few images of a Horned Lark male singing on Antelope Island State Park and it reminded me that I hadn't posted this image of a female Horned Lark that I photographed last year.","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":"Female Horned Lark on a February morning on Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/horned-lark-female-mia-mcpherson-1021.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/horned-lark-female-mia-mcpherson-1021.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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