{"id":6115,"date":"2012-09-14T03:55:40","date_gmt":"2012-09-14T09:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6115"},"modified":"2025-12-12T05:45:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:45:43","slug":"western-meadowlark-about-to-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/14\/western-meadowlark-about-to-fly\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Meadowlark About To Fly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-165596 size-full\" title=\"Western Meadowlark about to fly, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656.jpg\" alt=\"Western Meadowlark about to fly, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"603\" data-id=\"12102\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27603%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20603%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27603%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656-200x142.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656-400x284.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656-600x426.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656-768x545.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Western Meadowlark about to fly &#8211; Nikon D300, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This Western Meadowlark was about to take off from the boulder it was on when I photographed it on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>During the summer it is difficult to get close to these birds but because of the lower temperature that morning it hung around for a few shots.<\/p>\n<p>Right now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Western_Meadowlark\/lifehistory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Western Meadowlarks<\/a> aren&#8217;t as brightly colored as they are in the spring but their plumage is still lovely.<\/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<p><em>P.S.: My mother is visiting me on her first trip to Utah, she is going to love it! I&#8217;ll be slow to view and comment on your blogs, thanks for understanding. Please feel free to share this post with your friends and family.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Western Meadowlark was about to take off from the boulder it was on when I photographed it on Wednesday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165596,"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":[4004,4138,11978,4282,4824,4825,4061,2315,3792,4308],"class_list":["post-6115","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-boulder","tag-desert-island","tag-lift-off","tag-meadowlark","tag-meadowlarks","tag-sturnella-neglecta","tag-summer-3","tag-take-off","tag-western-meadowlark"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-utah-mia-mcpherson-5656.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1AD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4415,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/16\/western-meadowlarks-and-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":6115,"position":0},"title":"Western Meadowlarks And Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Tis the season of changes, for a bit it acts like winter and soon switches to act like spring. . The flute like call of Western Meadowlarks is a sound I associate with spring and lately I have been hearing them quite often.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark on a boulder with the Great Salt Lake in the background, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-3250.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-mia-mcpherson-3250.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-3250.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-3250.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115320,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/21\/kamas-valley-western-meadowlark-with-a-grasshopper\/","url_meta":{"origin":6115,"position":1},"title":"Kamas Valley Western Meadowlark With A Grasshopper","author":"Mia 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 &quot;Birds&quot;","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 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/western-meadowlark-grasshopper-messy-mia-mcpherson-7791.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14611,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/24\/a-western-meadowlark-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":6115,"position":2},"title":"Western Meadowlark On The Wing","author":"Mia 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 &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":"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-flying-mia-mcpherson-7733.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20012,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/14\/western-meadowlark-chorus-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":6115,"position":3},"title":"Western Meadowlark Chorus on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday there was a springtime chorus being sung almost every where on Antelope Island and the flute-like melody of the Western Meadowlarks resonated the loudest.","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":"Landing Western Meadowlark, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-landing-mia-mcpherson-2381.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-landing-mia-mcpherson-2381.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-landing-mia-mcpherson-2381.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-landing-mia-mcpherson-2381.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24512,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/24\/a-juvenile-western-meadowlark-on-the-shore-of-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":6115,"position":4},"title":"Juvenile Western Meadowlark and the Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have already seen Sage Thrasher chicks on Antelope Island State Park and I suspect it won't be long before I see juvenile Western Meadowlarks learning how to fly and feed on their own.","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":"Juvenile Western Meadowlark on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5997.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-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5997.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/western-meadowlark-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5997.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4699,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/31\/lesson-learned-beyond-the-viewfinder\/","url_meta":{"origin":6115,"position":5},"title":"Lesson Learned &#8211; Beyond The Viewfinder","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Had I not seen that moving, tan blob beyond my viewfinder I could have easily missed being able to create these Chukar images. Sure, I have hundreds (if not thousands) of Chukar images but I am always looking for different poses, light conditions and settings to photograph my subjects in\u2026","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":"Chukars Rock! Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-mia-mcpherson-0663.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-mia-mcpherson-0663.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-mia-mcpherson-0663.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-mia-mcpherson-0663.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\/6115","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=6115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}