{"id":8820,"date":"2013-07-07T04:33:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-07T10:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8820"},"modified":"2026-03-22T12:18:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T17:18:57","slug":"horned-lark-moth-mullein-and-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/07\/horned-lark-moth-mullein-and-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Horned Lark, Wand Mullein and Antelope Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Horned Lark singing on a Wand Mullein stem<\/span><\/p>\n

There are seasonal cycles on Antelope Island State park, winter turns to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall and fall to winter but there are also yearly cycles for the wildflowers that bloom on the island too.<\/p>\n

This year appears to be the year of the Wand Mullein<\/span><\/a> (a biennial invasive weed) whereas two years ago it was the wild Sunflowers that came on strong.<\/p>\n

A few days ago I spotted this male Horned Lark on a Wand Mullein stem and I had to turn around to get images of it, not that many birds actually perch onWand Mullein and I don’t know why that is.<\/p>\n

\"WandMoth Mullein<\/span><\/p>\n

While photographing Sage Thrashers<\/span><\/a> last week I couldn’t resist taking a few close up images of the Wand Mullein from the pickup window.<\/p>\n

The stalk on the left is in bloom and the one on the right has finished blooming and has begun to set seeds. The purplish-red round seed pods will get a bit larger and then as the stalk dries they will turn brown before the pods open to spill the seeds.<\/p>\n

\"WandWand Mullein covered hillside near Buffalo Point<\/span><\/p>\n

The lower elevations of this slope that goes up to Buffalo Point was covered in Wand Mullein blooms a few weeks ago when I took this photo. Two years ago this same slope was covered with wild Sunflowers, both of them yellow wildflowers but very different in shape and growth habit.<\/p>\n

Yellow does seem to be the predominant color of wildflowers on Antelope Island State Park though I am not sure why, I’ll be Mullein that over.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are seasonal cycles on Antelope Island State park, winter turns to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall and fall to winter but there are also yearly cycles for the wildflowers that bloom on the island too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166540,"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":[511,27,1022,436,26,5347],"tags":[4004,2274,2273,4181,1327,6433,2136,4062,4344,1390,102,4032,5059,5063],"class_list":["post-8820","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","category-wildflowers","tag-adult","tag-biennial","tag-buffalo-point","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-horned-lark","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-male","tag-verbascum-virgatum","tag-wand-mullein","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography","tag-yellow-flowers","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-3452.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2ig","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51629,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/12\/horned-lark-with-redstem-filaree-birds-wildflowers\/","url_meta":{"origin":8820,"position":0},"title":"Horned Lark With Redstem Filaree – Birds & Wildflowers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph a male Horned Lark on Antelope Island State Park that included Redstem Filaree in the photos and I was delighted, that pop of bright color sure says \"spring\" to me.","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":"Horned Lark in Redstem Filaree, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-red-stem-filaree-mia-mcpherson-7605.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-red-stem-filaree-mia-mcpherson-7605.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-red-stem-filaree-mia-mcpherson-7605.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-red-stem-filaree-mia-mcpherson-7605.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4458,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/21\/horned-lark-eating-sunflower-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":8820,"position":1},"title":"Horned Lark Eating Sunflower Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was delighted to be able to photograph this male Horned Lark perched high on dried sunflower seed heads as it ate.","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 eating sunflower seeds, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-eating-mia-mcpherson-4600.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-eating-mia-mcpherson-4600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-adult-male-gravel-pile-mia-mcpherson-0979.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-adult-male-gravel-pile-mia-mcpherson-0979.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-4972.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-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-4972.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-4972.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-4972.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7880,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/17\/horned-lark-in-early-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":8820,"position":4},"title":"Horned Lark In Early Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this male Horned 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https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-mia-mcpherson-1025.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8112,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/15\/great-horned-owls-and-horned-larks-birds-with-ear-tufts\/","url_meta":{"origin":8820,"position":5},"title":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks – Birds with Tufts","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.","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 Great Horned Owl on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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