{"id":7832,"date":"2013-03-13T03:55:40","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T09:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=7832"},"modified":"2025-12-12T06:30:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T12:30:34","slug":"sounds-of-spring-western-meadowlark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/13\/sounds-of-spring-western-meadowlark\/","title":{"rendered":"Sounds of Spring &#8211; Western Meadowlark"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-165612 size-full\" title=\"Western Meadowlark on a sign post, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130.jpg\" alt=\"Western Meadowlark on a sign post, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%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-mia-mcpherson-8130-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Western Meadowlark on a sign post &#8211; Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Normally we have Western Meadowlarks year round here in the Salt Lake Valley but because this past winter was harsh it seemed that they moved south for a bit. They are back now and singing their songs of spring.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-165615 size-full\" title=\"Western Meadowlark on a wire, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193.jpg\" alt=\"Western Meadowlark on a wire, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%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-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1193.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Western Meadowlark on a wire &#8211; Nikon D200, f10, 1\/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It won&#8217;t be long before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Western_Meadowlark\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Western Meadowlark<\/span><\/a> calls are heard throughout the valley calling their mates and nesting will begin. I missed them while they were gone and I am pleased that they are back.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/western-meadowlark-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Western Meadowlark photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Normally we have Western Meadowlarks year round here in the Salt Lake Valley but because this past winter was harsh it seemed that they moved south for a bit. They are back now and singing their songs of spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[511,124,27,1148,1022,26,371],"tags":[4004,4430,11978,898,4824,4825,519,4104,4394,4018,4926,165,4061,4308,2765,8917],"class_list":["post-7832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","category-western-meadowlarks","tag-adult","tag-barbed-wire","tag-desert-island","tag-fence-post","tag-meadowlark","tag-meadowlarks","tag-nature","tag-perched","tag-post","tag-sky","tag-sounds","tag-spring","tag-sturnella-neglecta","tag-western-meadowlark","tag-wire","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-8130.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-22k","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4415,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/16\/western-meadowlarks-and-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":7832,"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":14753,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/15\/open-air-concert-of-a-western-meadowlark-singing-from-a-sagebrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":7832,"position":1},"title":"Open Air Concert of a Western Meadowlark Singing from a Sagebrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was a bit like a wonderful open air concert on Antelope Island with the calls of Curlews, Willets, Chukars, Red-winged Blackbirds and Western Meadowlarks floating through the air.","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":"Western Meadowlark singing from a Sagebrush near the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/western-meadowlark-singing-mia-mcpherson-4524.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":7832,"position":2},"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":115320,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/21\/kamas-valley-western-meadowlark-with-a-grasshopper\/","url_meta":{"origin":7832,"position":3},"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":120258,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/30\/western-meadowlarks-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":7832,"position":4},"title":"Western Meadowlarks At Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Much like the Great Blue Herons I shared yesterday, the Western Meadowlarks I found at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago were also behaving as if it were spring.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlarks showing courtship behaviors in January, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/western-meadowlarks-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-3548.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/western-meadowlarks-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-3548.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/western-meadowlarks-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-3548.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/western-meadowlarks-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-3548.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79643,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/21\/february-western-meadowlark-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":7832,"position":5},"title":"February Western Meadowlark Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I took a series of Western Meadowlark photos three mornings ago at Farmington Bay WMA while the sun was shining.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark singing on a February morning, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.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-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.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\/7832","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=7832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}