{"id":79643,"date":"2021-02-21T06:22:27","date_gmt":"2021-02-21T13:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=79643"},"modified":"2025-12-13T13:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T19:32:15","slug":"february-western-meadowlark-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/21\/february-western-meadowlark-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"February Western Meadowlark Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I took a series of Western Meadowlark photos three mornings ago at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.utahbirds.org\/counties\/davis\/FarmingtonBay.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a> while the sun was shining. Good lighting conditions have been almost rare here in northern Utah so far this month so I was happy to have it and birds in my viewfinder at the same time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-165795 size-full\" title=\"Western Meadowlark singing on a February morning, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.jpg\" alt=\"Western Meadowlark singing on a February morning, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%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-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Western Meadowlark singing on a February morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, what thrilled me was that the Western Meadowlarks were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xeno-canto.org\/477781\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">singing<\/span><\/a> and that I felt like I was hearing a preview to the sounds of spring in northern Utah.<\/p>\n<p>The clear flute-like whistles and warbles of the meadowlarks over the marsh reminded me that in just a few weeks the temperatures will be warmer, the days will be longer, and that soon I will be seeing and hopefully photographing more birds.<\/p>\n<p><em>The recording I linked to above also has a Vesper Sparrow singing in it. I can hardly wait to see and hear them again.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-165798 size-full\" title=\"Adult Western Meadowlark in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-3859.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-3859.jpg\" alt=\"Adult Western Meadowlark in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%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-adult-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-3859-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-3859-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-3859-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-3859-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-3859.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult Western Meadowlark in the marsh at Farmington Bay \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Western Meadowlarks are year round residents in northern Utah although I feel I should note that I do see fewer of them during the winter than I do the rest of the year.<\/p>\n<p>During the winter these meadowlarks are quieter than they are during spring and summer. In winter I typically hear them call but don&#8217;t hear them singing much at all.<\/p>\n<p>As spring approaches and the days grow longer they start to sing on sunny winter days.\u00a0 It is part of their seasonal cycle.<\/p>\n<p>Listening to the Western Meadowlarks sing truly lifted my spirits. I&#8217;m looking forward to longer days, warmer temps, and all of the birds that are heading my way.<\/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 view more of my Western Meadowlark photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I took a series of Western Meadowlark photos three mornings ago at Farmington Bay WMA while the sun was shining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,1022,697,26,371],"tags":[4004,4430,3830,11025,4094,4824,4825,6613,4104,9978,4179,4735,4061,4308,373],"class_list":["post-79643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-western-meadowlarks","tag-adult","tag-barbed-wire","tag-fence","tag-fnce-post","tag-marsh","tag-meadowlark","tag-meadowlarks","tag-metal-post","tag-perched","tag-sing","tag-singing-2","tag-song","tag-sturnella-neglecta","tag-western-meadowlark","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-adult-fence-singing-mia-mcpherson-3917.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kIz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":120258,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/30\/western-meadowlarks-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":79643,"position":0},"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":18238,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/28\/stretching-western-meadowlark\/","url_meta":{"origin":79643,"position":1},"title":"Stretching Western Meadowlark","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago this Western Meadowlark kept me from being skunked at Farmington Bay WMA because there weren't many other birds to photograph up close.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stretching Western Meadowlark, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-stretch-mia-mcpherson-7751.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-stretch-mia-mcpherson-7751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-stretch-mia-mcpherson-7751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-stretch-mia-mcpherson-7751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1601,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/10\/western-meadowlark-on-a-cold-utah-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":79643,"position":2},"title":"Western Meadowlark On A Cold Utah Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Not too long after I had gotten to my location I spotted a Western Meadowlark hunkered down on a rock trying to warm up with the rays of the rising sun.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Davis County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Meadowlark shaking off the cold, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-shaking-6310.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-shaking-6310.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-shaking-6310.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18607,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/01\/16\/a-meadowlark-and-kingfisher-catching-some-sunshine\/","url_meta":{"origin":79643,"position":3},"title":"Western Meadowlark And Kingfisher Catching Some Sunshine","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It was lovely to see the sunshine yesterday and to have the Western Meadowlark and Belted Kingfisher in my viewfinder.","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":"Belted Kingfisher at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-4581.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-4581.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-4581.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-4581.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101020,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/25\/western-meadowlark-singing\/","url_meta":{"origin":79643,"position":4},"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 &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 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/western-meadowlark-spring-song-mia-mcpherson-4421.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/western-meadowlark-spring-song-mia-mcpherson-4421.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":79643,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79643","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=79643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}