{"id":4877,"date":"2012-04-26T04:35:51","date_gmt":"2012-04-26T10:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4877"},"modified":"2025-12-12T05:36:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:36:01","slug":"western-meadowlark-up-close-and-personal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/26\/western-meadowlark-up-close-and-personal\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Meadowlark – Up Close And Personal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PortraitPortrait of a Western Meadowlark – Nikon D300, f\/13, 1\/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 328mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

During the spring Western Meadowlarks<\/span><\/a> can be easy to locate and then approach because they spend so much time singing from the tops of boulders, bushes, posts, and other man made objects.<\/p>\n

I photographed this meadowlark singing while perched on a sign on Antelope Island State Park this past Monday. The bird was so close that unless I took off my teleconverter I couldn’t fit the whole body of the meadowlark into the frame. I wasn’t sure how long the bird would stay so I opted to take close ups of it instead of removing the TC.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

During the spring Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta) can be easy to locate and then approach because they spend so much time singing from the tops of boulders, bushes, posts and other manmade objects. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165592,"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":[4004,4083,4142,4824,4825,4046,4179,4018,4061,4308],"class_list":["post-4877","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-birding","tag-close-up","tag-meadowlark","tag-meadowlarks","tag-portrait","tag-singing-2","tag-sky","tag-sturnella-neglecta","tag-western-meadowlark"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8144.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1gF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101020,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/25\/western-meadowlark-singing\/","url_meta":{"origin":4877,"position":0},"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 "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":"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, 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McPherson","date":"August 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird I photographed last week from the side of the road in the Kamas Valley was this scruffy Western Meadowlark with a grasshopper.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark with a grasshopper, Kamas Valley, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/western-meadowlark-grasshopper-messy-mia-mcpherson-7791.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/western-meadowlark-grasshopper-messy-mia-mcpherson-7791.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/western-meadowlark-grasshopper-messy-mia-mcpherson-7791.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"March 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Five days ago while on Antelope Island I photographed this Western Meadowlark as it sang on the stump of a dead Sagebrush.","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":"Flying Western Meadowlark, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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