{"id":51517,"date":"2018-04-04T06:07:20","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T12:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51517"},"modified":"2025-09-03T10:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:30:32","slug":"horned-lark-stretching-his-left-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/04\/horned-lark-stretching-his-left-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Horned Lark Stretching His Left Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Horned Lark stretching his left wing – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This was another one of those mornings where I woke up to find server issues which took over an hour to get sorted out so I am just doing a very simple post this morning. It is probably a good thing I am one of those people that can go with the flow.<\/p>\n

I was out on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> yesterday and it was birdier than it has been in a while which was a delight. I photographed some Long-billed Curlews, Western Meadowlarks, Black-billed Magpies, Common Ravens, Sage Thrashers, one male Pronghorn, one Chukar, several Horned Larks plus I spotted my first of the year Willet. So, all in all, a nice day on the island.<\/p>\n

There was one very cooperative male Horned Lark on top of a boulder that I took a lot of images of while he sang, preened, and stretched.<\/p>\n

Because of my server issues this morning I didn’t have time to edit more than just this one photo but I’ll try and post more of him later when I am not so stressed out.<\/p>\n

I like this photo for the eye contact, the fine details in the plumage of the bird, the stretched wing, light and how his one foot is raised, plus I think Horned Larks are beautiful songbirds.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I like this photo for the eye contact, the fine details in the plumage of the bird, the stretched wing, light and how his one foot is raised, plus I think Horned Larks are beautiful songbirds. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154060,"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":false,"_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":[4004,4138,4181,1327,6433,2136,4062,4019,165,3964,4521,5498],"class_list":["post-51517","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-adult","tag-boulder","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-horned-lark","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-male","tag-preening-2","tag-spring","tag-stretching","tag-wing-stretch","tag-wings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horned-lark-male-stretching-mia-mcpherson-2867.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-doV","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":51517,"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3290,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/10\/10\/prolonged-male-horned-lark-preening-session\/","url_meta":{"origin":51517,"position":1},"title":"Prolonged Male Horned Lark Preening Session","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I came across this very cooperative male Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris). This male bird preened for a full seven minutes and I took 256 images of it.","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 Horned Lark warms up, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-mia-mcpherson-2840.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-mia-mcpherson-2840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-mia-mcpherson-2840.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"After photographing this male Horned Lark on Antelope Island three days ago I decided to share a photo of him plus female and immature larks in a single post.","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":"Adult male Horned Lark on a gravel pile, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-adult-male-gravel-pile-mia-mcpherson-0979.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-adult-male-gravel-pile-mia-mcpherson-0979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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